Islamabad (Web Desk): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday decided to conduct hearing of Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan’s bail plea in cipher case in an open court.
According to details, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq issued the two-page written judgement on the prosecution's application seeking in-camera proceedings of the case.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had requested the court for an in-camera hearing, citing "privileged" and "sensitive" documents and information as a reason.
During the hearing, special prosecutor Shah Khawar said that these documents and information could not be made public.
In its order, the The order further said that the special prosecutor for FIA had opposed that when the bail application before the trial court was argued, the public was isolated, and however, the official agreed that the petitioner argued its case in open court.
However, the order mentioned that the PTI counsel said public could be excluded from the proceedings if the court deemed it necessary.
"Be that as it may, Section 14 of the Official Secret Act, 1923 permits exclusion of the public from the proceedings, however, the reading of the section shows that if such is to be undertaken, the prosecution has to make an application," it added.
Therefore, the court ordered the FIA prosecutors to file a separate petition regarding in-camera proceedings at the time of the next hearing.
The court order mentioned that the prosecution may file an appropriate application if it is interested in the public's exclusion from the proceedings.
