Relief to Imran Khan from Pakistan court, bail granted to former Prime Minister and his aide in cipher case

In a relief to jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Friday approved the bail of him and his close aide Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case related to alleged leakage of state secrets. The top court also directed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders to deposit bail bonds of Rs 10 lakh each, Dawn newspaper reported.

The order was issued by a three-member bench headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprising Justices Athar Minallah and Syed Mansoor Ali Shah. The case is based on allegations that a diplomatic document sent by the Pakistan Embassy in March last year was mishandled by Khan, 71, and Qureshi, 67, in violation of the country’s secrets laws. However, Khan will remain in jail as he has been convicted in the Toshakhana corruption case.

The federal probe agency’s charge sheet alleged that the document was never returned by Khan. PTI has long believed that the document contained a threat from the United States to remove Khan from the post of prime minister. The special court (Official Secrets Act) last week began a fresh trial at Adiala district jail after Khan and Qureshi were convicted for the second time in the case on December 13.