Special Court Judge
ISLAMABAD: Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain has suddenly taken one week leave. He was hearing the Cipher case bail pleas of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
The PTI’s legal team, consisting of counsels Babar Awan, Salman Safdar, and Naeem Haider Panjotha, reach the court just to discover that Judge Zulqarnain was on leave.
PTI Lawyer Salman Safdar requested the court staff to schedule the case hearing for Thursday.
PTI legal team and Judge Raja Javad Abbas
The PTI’s legal team approached Judge Raja Javad Abbas and asked him to consider hearing the bail plea.
The judge responded by stating that he couldn’t hear the case as he wasn’t the duty judge.
Judge Abbas remarked, “There is no notification designating me as the duty judge for the Official Secrets Act. If the Islamabad High Court assigns it to me, I can proceed.”
Lawyer Awan suggested submitting an application and seeking a hearing in the IHC for the bail pleas.
Judge Abbas agreed with Awan’s proposal, stating that the IHC would make the final decision.
Judge Abbas also raised the question of whether his court had jurisdiction to hear the cipher case. He pointed out that the case falls under the purview of the special court.
Meanwhile, he mentioned that he would consider PTI’s application today to determine whether his court could hear the bail pleas of the PTI leaders.
Last month, the IHC assigned the ATC-I Judge Zulqarnain the special court established under the Official Secrets Act. The IHC directed him to address matters related to the diplomatic cipher.
The special court is conducting trial of the the cipher case behind closed doors.
The sudden leave of the Special Court Judge indicates that the court may not announce the Cipher case decision before retirement of chief justice Bandial.
