Imran Khan Seeks Supreme Court Bail as Islamabad High Court Rejects Post-Arrest Pleas in Cipher Case

Imran Khan, Pakistan's former prime minister, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking bail in the cipher case after the Islamabad High Court rejected his post-arrest bail pleas. Khan, 71, was arrested in August following a case filed against him by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for disclosing a secret diplomatic cable (cipher) sent by the country's embassy in Washington. Last week, a special court indicted Khan and his close ally, ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in the cipher case. The hearing has been adjourned until November 7 without any statements from the ten witnesses.

Khan, through his counsel Salman Safdar, has challenged the ruling of the Islamabad High Court. On September 30, the FIA filed a charge sheet against Khan and Qureshi under the Official Secrets Act, invoking sections 5 and 9, which may result in a death sentence or imprisonment ranging from two to fourteen years if convicted. Both were indicted on October 23. Khan, who served as prime minister from August 2018 to April 2022, is accused of misusing the contents of the cipher to create a narrative that his government was overthrown due to a foreign conspiracy by the United States.

However, Washington has denied these allegations. The charge sheet also claims that Qureshi aided and abetted Khan and is therefore equally responsible. Khan's government was removed on April 9 last year, while the cable in question was sent in March. Since his ouster, Khan and several party leaders have been facing numerous cases, including the recent May 9 violence. Over 150 cases have been registered against Khan since his removal from power in April last year. This year, Khan was sentenced to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case, but the sentence was later suspended by the Islamabad High Court. Subsequently, he was arrested in the cipher case and has been in judicial remand at the Attock District Jail. He has since been transferred to the high-security Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.