Islamabad: In a major relief for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed the embezzlement case of detained PTI founder and party vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi. and mishandling a secret diplomatic document.
IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the court’s summary judgment challenging the case after it was adjourned today over the encryption issue.
The PTI founder and the party’s vice-chairman were sentenced to 10 years each in an encryption case in January this year. The case concerns allegations that the former prime minister leaked the contents of a secret cable sent by the country’s ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad.
The latest relief for the PTI founder comes days after the IHC on May 15 approved his bail in the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) £190 million bail application.
A two-member bench comprising the Chief Justice of the IHC, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, approved the bail application filed by the National Accounts Bureau (NAB).
The prime minister, who was ousted in a no-confidence motion by the opposition in April 2022, has faced numerous charges since stepping down, ranging from corruption to terrorism.
Following his conviction in the Toshakhana case, he has been detained since August last year on charges of espionage and illegal marriage, among other cases.
Due to his conviction in other cases, the former prime minister remains behind bars despite getting relief in some cases.
Despite the leniency in the cipher case, Khan and Qureshi are likely to be released from prison due to Iddat and May 9 remands, respectively.
Commenting on the IHC verdict, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said today that the case was concluded as “baseless and baseless”. He said the PTI founder had spent 10 months in jail in an encryption case.
He claimed that the former prime minister would soon be released from prison and hoped for justice for the parties joining the judiciary.
The politician said that all “vengeance-based political motives” against the PTI leader would also be removed.
Similarly, pro-PTI lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly raised slogans after the IHC acquitted PTI founder and party vice-president Qureshi in the encryption case.
PTI MPs left the table in the House to support the party founders.
