According to Pakistan-based Dawn, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) established a special division bench on Saturday to hear the appeals of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi against their convictions in the Toshakhana and cipher cases on Monday. Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi have both contested the outcome of the cipher case as well as their respective 10-year sentences. Appeal against their convictions in the Toshakhana case was filed by Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi. They each received sentences of 14 years in prison and a fine of 1.54 billion Pakistani Rupees (PKR) from the court.
The IHC division bench, comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, will hear the appeals on Monday. The appeal against conviction in the cipher case stated that the arrest and remand hearing that took place on August 16, 2023, was conducted in the “most objectionable, clandestine, and secretive manner.”
The IHC division bench said that the prosecution did not produce the complete record before the trial court against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, and the judge indicted Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi in haste, according to the Dawn report.
The two leaders recounted in the appeal that the “glaring illegalities” forced the IHC division bench to twice abandon the trial court proceedings. Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, however, is accused of ending the trial without adhering to the required procedural requirements. According to the appeal, Imran Khan and his attorney gave the trial court their full cooperation and refrained from requesting an unwarranted adjournment to drag out the legal proceedings. The trial concluded in less than 20 days, but the judge failed to guarantee a fair trial, and the “proceedings were hurried through by the court at a breakneck speed for reasons known only to the court itself.”
According to the appeal, the defence council cross-examined four prosecution witnesses, and the case was adjourned to January 25 when a counsel appeared before the Islamabad High Court and another lawyer had to travel to Lahore for dental surgery, Dawn reported. The case was adjourned to January 27 when the judge appointed state lawyers for Pakistan’s former PM Khan and Foreign Minister Qureshi.
According to the appeal, Khan and Qureshi strongly objected to “these so-called state counsels without their consent but to no avail.” The two leaders then requested the court to make a call to their lead counsel to seek assistance in cross-examination.
