The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday rejected the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) plea, seeking court order for an in-camera hearing of former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s bail petition in the US cipher case, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The court said that the former prime minister’s petition would now be heard at 2:00 PM on October 9 in open court.
However, IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Aamer Farooq said that where the lawyers would point out that the information they were going to share with the court needed to be kept secret, only that part of the hearing would be held in-camera.
Two days ago, on Monday, the IHC had reserved its decision on the FIA’s petition, seeking an in-camera hearing of Imran’s bail plea in the cipher case.
The FIA, it the petition, had said it was fearful that an open court hearing could harm Pakistan's diplomatic ties with other states.
FIA’s Special Prosecutor Shah Khawar made the appeal after the court met after a short break.
Reporter: Rozeena Ali