Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan was granted bail on Friday over a high-profile state secrets case as the court declared him “innocent.”
The Supreme Court also granted bail to his party colleague and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi over the case, also known as “the cipher case.”
The case was heard by a three-member bench headed by Sardar Tariq Masood, acting chief justice. Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah raised questions about the cipher and the inclusion of sections relating to the death sentence in the first information report against the former prime minister and foreign minister.
The former prime minister has not been found guilty; he is innocent. [There was] no proof that his statement benefited any other country.
Khan was accused of divulging state secrets when he waved a confidential diplomatic letter at a rally last year. He and Qureshi, members of Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party, have twice been charged in the case.
On 27 October, Islamabad High Court Chief Justice, Aamer Farooq, rejected the bail plea of Khan and Qureshi. Khan’s legal team later appealed to the Supreme Court against the Islamabad High Court’s ruling.
Imran Khan, who was suspended in a vote of no confidence in April 2022, is currently imprisoned in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, eastern Punjab.
Friday’s court order came amid nominations for the upcoming general elections scheduled for February 8. Early Friday morning, Pakistan’s election authority extended the nomination period by two days for potential candidates to stand for election.
