ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal government spokesperson on legal affairs Barrister Aqeel Malik said on Monday that the country’s courts should be “mindful” of national security while deciding on sensitive matters.
While addressing a press conference in Islamabad after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi got relief from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in cipher case, Barrister Aqeel Malik said the detailed verdict of the case is due to arrive, insisting that the cipher case was a “reality” which cannot be denied.
In a major relief to PTI, the IHC annulled Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s conviction in the cipher case containing charges of misusing and misplacing the classified diplomatic document.
Barrister Aqeel Malik said that the former prime minister waved a classified document at a public gathering, whereas, then-principal secretary Azam Khan also confessed to a “missing copy of the cipher”.
“Nothing is more important than our national security. The prosecution will decide on challenging the IHC’s ruling after the issuance of a detailed verdict,” Barrister Malik said.
The spokesperson urged that the courts not to never ignore the national security aspect in any case and the cipher case should be sent for retrial. He further clarified that both the accused were not sentenced “at the behest of any individual”.
He vowed that the federal government and the armed forces would never compromise on the national security affairs.
The spokesperson, however, clarified that the federal government accepted the verdicts of the courts and never criticized the judiciary unlike a certain political party which continued to “malign the honourable judges”.
