(Web Desk) – Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a former foreign minister and vice chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has been placed in the care of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for a four-day physical remand in a cipher case.
The remand was ordered by a special court in Islamabad that was formed on Monday to consider cases brought under the Official Secrets Act.
The former minister was detained by the FIA on Saturday in connection with the cipher case, and today (Tuesday), he appeared before the special court.
Judge Abual Hasnat of the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) heard the case brought up against Qureshi under the Official Secrets Act.
Qureshi’s lawyer, Shoaib Shaheen, refused the FIA’s request for a 13-day physical detention of Qureshi in order to retrieve the allegedly lost cipher.
Following the hearing of the arguments, the court first delayed rendering a decision and later instructed the FIA officers to bring Qureshi before the court on August 25 (Friday).
The judge ruled that all unauthorized people must leave the courtroom before the closed-door hearings could begin.
The judge added, “It is a matter of the Official Secrets Act, irrelevant people should leave.”
Outside of the courthouse, a sizable police presence from Islamabad was present.
Shoaib Shaheen, Intizar Panjotha, Gohar Ali, and Ali Bukhari, as well as other senior PTI attorneys, stayed in the courtroom while the PTI’s less experienced attorneys were asked to leave.
According to the law, judicial proceedings will continue behind closed doors.
