Daily Times

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday expressed his shock and worry with his legal team on the change of the judge hearing the Judge Zeba Chaudhry case registered against him.

“The PTI chairman was shocked and worried at the change of the judge hearing the Judge Zeba Chaudhry case,” said one of the PTI chief’s legal counsel Salman Safdar in a media talk outside the Attock jail after meeting his client. The lawyer said that Judge Malik Aman, who was hearing the case, was expected to issue a verdict soon. He added that the judge should not have been changed at this crucial time.

Salman also said that the PTI chief went to Judge Zeba Chaudhry’s court and apologised to her for the remarks he passed against her in a public gathering. The PTI chief was booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act for threatening additional sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and senior police officers of the Islamabad Police during a public rally in August last year.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had then started contempt of court proceedings against the former prime minister. Later on, the high court had removed the terror charges and also pardoned the PTI chief after he had tendered an apology in the contempt case. But a similar case had been filed against the PTI chief – after the registration of the first information report (FIR) against him – and is still pending before the sessions court.

The PTI chief’s lawyer also said that his client was extremely hopeless after he failed to get bail in the cipher case. “There has been no violation of the Official Secrets Act,” claimed the lawyer. He added that during their meeting they also briefed the PTI chairman on the suspension of bails in nine cases and also on the nine cases being heard in the IHC. Last month, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) booked PTI chief and his party’s vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly misplacing and misusing the classified document for vested political interests.

Subsequently, both leaders were arrested in connection with the investigation into the case and a special court was established under the Official Secrets Act to try the accused. The former prime minister has been in Attock Jail after he was arrested following his conviction in the Toshakhana case. While the IHC had overturned a lower court’s decision to jail him, he remains behind bars due to his arrest in the cipher case. The arrest of the PTI chief was made while he was behind bars.