The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has acquitted former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case, providing significant relief to the embattled political party.
IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb delivered the verdict, overturning the previous conviction of Khan and Qureshi, who had been sentenced to 10 years each in January for allegedly misusing and misplacing a classified diplomatic document.
The case centred on allegations that Khan had publicly disclosed the contents of a secret cable sent by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad. This latest judicial relief comes shortly after the IHC granted Khan bail on 15 May in a separate £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) settlement reference.
A two-member bench, including IHC Chief Justice and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, had approved Khan’s bail plea in the NCA settlement reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Since his removal from power through a no-confidence motion in April 2022, Khan has faced multiple charges, including corruption and terrorism. He has been imprisoned since August last year after being sentenced in the Toshakhana case and subsequently convicted in other cases, including the cipher and illegal marriage cases.
Despite securing relief in several cases, Khan remains incarcerated due to his convictions in other matters.
The Cipher Case
The cipher controversy began on 27 March 2022, when Khan, during a public rally, waved a letter he claimed was a cipher from a foreign nation conspiring with his political rivals to overthrow his government. While he did not initially disclose the letter’s contents or the nation’s name, he later accused the United States and alleged that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu sought his removal.
The cipher was reportedly about a meeting between Pakistan’s then-ambassador to the US and Lu. Khan claimed the cipher indicated that all would be forgiven for Pakistan if he were removed from power. The National Security Committee (NSC) addressed the matter on 31 March 2022, deciding to issue a “strong demarche” to the US for its “blatant interference” in Pakistan’s internal affairs. However, a subsequent NSC meeting convened by then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif concluded that there was no evidence of a foreign conspiracy in the cable.
Further complicating matters, two audio leaks surfaced, allegedly featuring Khan, then-Federal Minister Asad Umar, and then-Principal Secretary Azam discussing the US cipher and strategising how to use it to their advantage. These leaks sparked public and political uproar.
Imran Khan (left) and Shah Mahmood Qureshi (right) have been acquitted in the cipher case by the Islamabad High Court. — X@PTIofficial/File
