ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be indicted in the cipher case on October 17, announced the special court on Monday.

The PTI chief and his deputy were presented before special court Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain in the court set up in Adiala jail where both leaders are locked up.

The date for the indictment was set after the copies of the challan, submitted to the court by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), were provided to the counsels of the accused. 

After setting the date of the indictment, government witnesses were also issued notices by the court. Following this, the hearing was adjourned.

In the last hearing, the special court had adjourned the case till today without any proceedings.

Back then the PTI lawyers had raised objections to the hearing of the case in Adiala jail and implored the court to put off the hearing until Islamabad High Court (IHC) decides on its plea challenging the in-camera trial of their clients.

The PTI legal team had also refused to receive a copy of the FIA challan (charge sheet).

But the same day IHC ruled that the hearing on the PTI chief’s bail plea will take place in an open court.

The FIA, in its challan, stated that the former prime minister and the vice-chairman were found guilty in the matter and requested the court to conduct their trial and sentence them in the case.

According to the sources, former PTI secretary-general Asad Umar's name was not added to the list of accused. Meanwhile, Khan's former principal secretary Azam Khan was also named as a "strong witness" in the case.

The FIA also attached Azam's statements, recorded under Sections 161 and 164, along with the challan, said the sources, adding that the PTI chief kept the cipher to himself and misused the state secret.

The sources also said that Khan had a copy of the cipher but he did not return it.

Moreover, the FIA also attached the transcript of Khan and Qureshi's speech on March 27 — the day when the former premier brandished a letter claiming it was a cipher from a foreign nation, that wanted his government to be removed from power.

The agency also submitted a list of 28 witnesses to the court with the challan after recording their statements under Section 161.

Sources further revealed that the names of former foreign secretaries Asad Majeed, Sohail Mehmood and the then additional foreign secretary Faisal Niaz Tirmizi have also been added to the list of witnesses.

Last month, the FIA booked the PTI chief and the party’s vice chairman under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly misplacing and misusing the classified document for their vested political interests.

“Consequent upon the conclusion of the enquiry No. 111/2023 dated 05.10.2022, registered in the CTW, FIA Islamabad, it transpired that former prime minister namely Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi, former foreign minister namely Shah Mahmood Qureshi and their other associates are involved in communications of information contained in the secret classified document (Cipher Telegram received from Parep. Washington dated 7th March, 2022 to Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to the unauthorised person (i.e. public at large) by twisting the facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security,” read first information report (FIR) registered against the PTI leaders.

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.