Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the United States Department of State, said on Monday these were the Pakistani courts, which had to decide the legal fate of former prime minister Imran Khan, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Responding to a question about Imran’s acquittal in the US cipher case by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) during a press briefing, Miller said the US kept the prevailing circumstances in view while taking decisions about different countries.

Miller further said he had already given answers to questions on Imran Khan several times.  

The IHC had on Monday declared null and void PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s conviction in the cipher case.

A two-judge bench of the IHC, comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, pronounced the verdict on the appeals of Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, nearly an hour after reserving it following the conclusion of the arguments.

The duo are not expected to be released from prison due to Imran’s sentence in the Iddat case while Qureshi was arrested in recent May 9 cases.

The Iddat case was transferred to another judge today while Qureshi is on physical remand till June 5 (Wednesday).

A special court, established under the Official Secrets Act, had handed both Imran and Qureshi 10-year jail sentences each in the case in January after Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain appo­inted a state counsel for them.

Ever since its ouster from power following the passage of a no-trust motion in April, 2022, PTI has been blaming the US for that, saying it through its cipher threatened Pakistan that it would have to face the consequences in case the party’s government was not removed from office.