Daily Times

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) nominated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday as accused in the challan submitted to the special Official Secrets Act court in the cypher case.

The FIA urged the court to initiate proceedings against the two and impose penalties on both of them. The investigative agency has reportedly not included former finance minister and PTI leader Asad Umar among the accused.

Former principal secretary and PTI leader Azam Khan’s statements, under Sections 161 and 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, as the FIA’s witness have also been attached to the challan.

The challan highlights that the former prime minister had the cypher in his possession and allegedly misused classified state information. He has been accused of not returning the copy of the cypher. Furthermore, the challan maintains that Qureshi delivered a speech on March 27 and assisted the PTI chairman.

The transcript of the speeches given by Imran and Qureshi on March 27 have also been attached in the challan. Additionally, the FIA also submitted a list of 28 witnesses to the court, with statements of 27 of them attached to the challan.

Among the witnesses listed in the special court’s challan are former foreign secretaries Asad Majeed and Sohail Mehmood. Moreover, Additional Foreign Secretary Faisal Niaz Timrizi has also been listed as another key witness by the FIA.

Outlining the process of a diplomatic cypher reaching the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and landing into the hands of a prime minister, the FIA has included as witnesses the entire chain of officials in the foreign ministry as well as the Prime Minister’s Office.

A copy of Azam Khan’s statement under Section 164 has already been submitted to the court. Whether the court permits access to this statement to the defence or merely allows their legal representatives to read it remains at the court’s discretion.