Islamabad
The caretaker government in Pakistan has constituted a special court in Islamabad to hear the critical Cipher case against former Prime Minister Imran Khan, former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his associates, as well as all other cases in which charges are framed under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and Army Act 1952.
The special court will be headed by Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) court number 1’s judge Abdul Hasnat, while proceedings into all cases that come under the two Acts will be heard in the Judicial Complex building in Islamabad.
The development comes after President Arif Alvi denied the approval of two amendment bills (Army Act Amendment Bill 2023 & Official Secrets Act Amendment Bill 2023), stating that his staff at the Prime Minister’s Office undermined his demand and acted against his directive to return the bill to Parliament.
These developments have stirred yet another conspiracy as many are questioning the timing of the tweet and have also expressed reservations over the intent of President Alvi, who they say, may have flouted his own public office to show his affiliation with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The Army Act and Official Secrets Act are being applied in the Cipher case against Khan and Qureshi, who have been booked for mishandling and sharing details of a secret document regarding meeting between American diplomat Donald Lu and Pakistan’s then Ambassador Asad Majeed, details of which were later used by the former premier to spread his narrative of US-led regime change against his government.
