ISLAMABAD: A special Court on Monday fixed December 12, to frame charges against chairman PTI and vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi in cipher case. Special Court Judge Abual Hassan Muhammad Zulqarnain heard the case in Central Jail Adiala against chairman PTI and co-accused. During the course of proceeding, the two accused were produced before the court. The court ordered to provide the copies of challan with the accused and decided to frame charges against them on next hearing. The FIA prosecutor prayed the court to also summon the prosecution witnesses on next hearing. The defence lawyer on the occasion said that the action was being taken under criminal act 1952 while this law was amended in 1958. He said that they should be clearly told that under what act the copies of case challan were being distributed, adding that without it the case couldn’t be proceeded. He said that the law ministry should issue a clear notification in this regard.

The prosecutor said that the notification of law ministry was clear in this regard, adding that the court was moving on as per the law. Chairman PTI’s lawyer Usman Gill adopted the stance that the legal requirement were not met in the notification issued regarding the hearing. The court remarked that the division bench of IHC had declared the appointment of judge for the trial as per the law. The court would write the objections of defence if any in its order, it added. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court, subsequently, ordered to distribute the copies of challan to accused and fixed December 12, to frame charges against them. During hearing, former firstly lady Bushra Bibi, sisters of chairman PTI and others were also in courtroom.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 05 2023

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