6tr Deploring the appointment of state defence counsels in the cipher case, former prime minister Imran Khan on Saturday said the trial was nothing less than a “joke” because the prosecution and defence team both belonged to the government.
“The prosecution team and defence counsels both belong to the government,” Imran said during the hearing today. “This is a joke.”
An order of Friday’s hearing issued on Saturday stated that Malik Abdur Rehman was appointed as Imran’s state defence counsel while Hazrat Younis would defend former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Authored by Judge Abual Hasnaat Muhammad Zulqarnain, the order noted that the defence counsel on January 16 had agreed to conduct the cross-examinations but did not appear in the next two court hearings.
“Despite several opportunities given to the learned counsels for accused persons, this court is left with no choice but to appoint defense counsels for the accused persons to conduct cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses (PWs),” the order stated.
“They will represent the case and will conduct cross-examination on the PWs. All the remaining PWs be summoned and the PWs present in court today are bound [..] to come up on Jan 27, 2024,” it added.
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran. The PTI has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.
Last year in December, Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb had restrained the special court from proceeding against the suspects — including Qureshi — till Jan 11, noting that there were “legal errors” in the case.
The decision had come on Imran’s petition challenging the trial — being conducted at Adiala Jail — and subsequent developments, including the framing of charges and a gag order on the media.
The special court had begun the cipher trial afresh last month at the Adiala district jail after Imran and Qureshi were indicted for a second time in the case on December 13.
The former premier and Qureshi, who is also behind bars, were first indicted in the case in October. Both had pleaded not guilty. The IHC had termed the government’s notification for a jail trial “erroneous” and scrapped the entire proceedings.
In December, the Supreme Court had approved the post-arrest bails of Imran and Qureshi. While Imran remains incarcerated in other cases, Qureshi’s expected release was also stalled as he was manhandled and re-arrested in a fresh May 9 case.
Yesterday, the FIA prosecutor asked the special court to close the defence counsel’s right to cross-examination, alleging that the defence side was applying delaying tactics to prolong the trial.
