Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday annulled the notification of August 29 for the jail trial of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan in the cipher case.
A divisional bench of the IHC headed by Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Seemen Riffat pronounced the reserved verdict in the case.
The IHC bench approved the PTI chief appeal against the jail trial of him in the cipher case.
The notification approved by the cabinet on November 13 will not be applicable to the past, the verdict reads.
The court declared the notification for jail trial of the former premier illegal.
The IHC bench declared the appointment of the Judge under the official secret act right, the verdict reads.
The court said that a jail trial can be conducted in the extraordinary situation adding as per the law the jail trial can be conducted open or in-camera.
Earlier in the day the Islamabad High Court (IHC) divisional bench headed by Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Riffat Semen reserved a verdict on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s intra-court appeal against his jail trial in cipher case.
Head of the bench Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb remarked that a judgment of the case against jail trial of the former premier will be decided today.
Giving arguments in the case, Chairman PTI counsel Salman Akram Raja contended that there is a procedure for a jail trial adding that a clear order is passed based on causes for the judge for conducting a jail trial.
If the government takes approval from the cabinet then it is necessary to inform to a high court. He went on to say, in this case no approval of the government exists before November 12 and this is the main illegal step in this case.
If we assumes that the government approved it then the action before this date is illegal, he argued.
Attorney general Mansoor Awan in his reply arguments said that the cipher case trial is an open trial while it is true that in the past accused family not permitted to see the jail trial.
The reason behind this prohibition is that the court space fixed for the trial was very small and capacity was limited and now the single bench has passed the order in this regard.
He said that the trial can not be annul that it was not held at right place.
