ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday set aside conviction of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan and vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in cipher case.
The PTI top leaders were sentenced to 10 years each in prison in January this year by a special court on charges of misusing and misplacing the classified diplomatic document.
IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the short verdict on the petition challenging the conviction.
The latest relief came days after the IHC approved the PTI founder’s bail petition in the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) settlement reference.
Former Prime Minister has been facing charges ranging from corruption to terrorism since his removal through a no trust motion. He is in jail since August 2023 after his conviction in Toshakhana case. He was later convicted in other cases including cipher case.
Cipher case:
Before his ouster, Imran Khan waved a letter in a public rally claiming that it was a cipher from a foreign nation that had conspired with his political rivals to send him out of the PM House. At that time, he avoided revealing the contents and the name of the nation. Later, he accused the United States of conspiring against him. He alleged that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had threatened Pakistan of dire consequences if he was not removed. Former Pakistan ambassador to the US has given detaqils of his meeting with Mr Lu in the said cipher.
