The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has temporarily withheld its verdict on a petition filed by former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, Imran Khan, contesting the relocation of the cypher case hearing to Attock jail.
During the session presided over by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, Khan’s attorney, Sher Afzal Marwat, questioned the legal grounds on which the Ministry of Law had mandated the case transfer to Attock Jail, emphasizing that altering the trial location to another province is a prerogative solely of the Supreme Court. Marwat highlighted that Khan, despite being granted bail in a different case, remains ‘unjustifiably’ detained in Attock Jail, suspecting ulterior motives behind the change in hearing location, which he claims was executed without proper notification.
Contrarily, Additional Attorney General Mansoor Iqbal Dogal defended the venue alteration, asserting it was a one-off scenario, rendering Khan’s plea void. Following these arguments, the court postponed its final judgement on the matter, seeking further clarification from the Ministry of Law and Justice regarding the notification issued.