Supreme Court issued notices in Imran Khan’s cypher case bail plea

The Supreme Court (SC) issued notices to the government and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief’s plea seeking bail in the cypher case.

A three-member SC bench, comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ayesha A. Malik and Justice Yahya Afridi took up Imran’s plea and declared it as admissible.

At the outset of the hearing, Barrister Salman Safdar, Imran Khan’s counsel, then briefed the court on the inquiry report and accusations made against the former prime minister in the case.

Justice Sardar Tariq Masood inquired Barrister Salman how far the matter dated back to.It is from 2022, the lawyer replied.The judge said the PTI had spent an entire year on the case.

Justice Masood pointed out that some sections in the FIR mentioned two-year punishment while others entailed lifetime imprisonment and the death penalty.

Justice Ayesha asked about the basic grounds of the case, to which Safdar said the main argument was that the case should not have been registered in the first place. He added that the sections invoked apply to crimes such as espionage.

“We had a petition related to bail and we have issued notices on it,” said Justice Masood. He added that this is what they could only do.The court issued notices to all the respondents in the case and adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.