ISLAMABAD: A special court, on Friday, extended the physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi for three days, Qureshi, in a cipher case under Sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, against him and PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) produced Qureshi before special court judge Abu Al-Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain after the expiry of his four-day physical remand.
During the hearing, the agency requested the court to extend the physical remand of Qureshi for another nine days for further investigation.
The judge was conducting an in-camera hearing of the case in the special court, which was recently-established under the Official Secrets Act.
Qureshi’s lawyer Shoaib Shaheen and FIA prosecutor Zulfiqar Naqvi appeared before the court.
The prosecutor requested the court to extend the physical remand of Qureshi for nine days. The PTI chief waved the cypher in the public gathering, he said.
Qureshi’s lawyer, while objecting to the prosecution’s plea seeking an extension in the physical remand, said that there would be several copies of the cipher.
During the hearing, Qureshi said that as foreign minister, he sent the cipher to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he did not steal the cipher. The court, after hearing arguments, extended the physical remand of Qureshi for three days.
According to the copy of the FIR registered on August 15, consequent upon the conclusion of inquiry No 111/2023 upon the complaint registered in the Counter Terrorism Wing (CTW), FIA, it transpired that former prime minister namely, Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi, former foreign minister namely, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and their other associates are involved in communication of information contained in the secret classified document (cypher telegram received from Parep Washington dated March 7, 2022 to secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to the unauthorised persons (i.e., public at large) by twisting the facts to achieve their “ulterior motives” and personal gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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