Official Secrets Act Court in Islamabad on Thursday rejected the post-arrest bail petitions of former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan and his lieutenant Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the US cipher case, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.   

Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain heard the petitions.

A couple of hours ago, the court had reserved its verdict on the bail petitions filed by Imran and Qureshi in the US cipher case.

Official Secrets Act Court Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain, who reserved the verdict after completion of arguments by the prosecution, is expected to announce the decision shortly.

Earlier, Advocate Sher Afzal Marwat gave arguments in the favour of bail plea.

Special Prosecutor Shah Khawar objected to the presence of a large number of PTI lawyers in the courtroom, saying they made videos of the court proceedings. “Irrelevant persons should be expelled from the courtroom,” he prayed to the court.

Following which the judge ordered that those not connected to the case must leave the room.

Even journalists were asked to leave the room.

Speaking on the occasion, Salman Safdar, counsel for Imran Khan, said that the interior ministry, the petitioner, had hijacked the case.

He said now it was up to the prosecution to prove which was the real and which was the fake version of the cipher.

He said that the cipher had been sent from Washington and was received at the foreign ministry.

He further said it had been alleged that the former prime minister used the cipher for his personal interests, and that he harmed the national security. “Now it is the prosecution which has to prove how Imran had endangered the national security,” Safdar said.

Imran’s lawyer went on to say that there was a mention of Azam Khan in the case. “Is he present at the court? Has his bail petition been accepted?” he questioned. 

  

Reporter: Farzana Siddique