ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will resume hearing appeals filed by PTI founder and wife Bushra Bibi, as well as former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, against their convictions in the cipher and Toshakhana cases today.
The hearing will be conducted by a special bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), consisting of IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.
Previously, the bench dismissed the prosecution’s objections to the petitions’ maintainability after PTI founder’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar advanced arguments opposing the objections raised by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor Hamid Ali Shah to the appeals’ maintainability.
Special prosecutor Hamid Ali Shah stated that the original law, enacted in 1923, did not include the ability to appeal.
According to Shah, section 10 of the Secrets Act allows for an appeal to the extent of trial processes but not against conviction.
In response to Justice Farooq’s question on whether there was no provision for filing an appeal under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the prosecutor stated that the law was silent on the issue.
Shah further claimed that the two-member division bench could not hear an appeal against a conviction under the Special Secrets Act. On the other hand, Barrister Salman Safdar contended that the CrPC applied in this case.
He further asserted that the CrPC would apply to the Official Secrets Act, providing for an appeal.
