A Pakistani special court hearing the cipher case against former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is set to indict them on Tuesday.

Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqernain was hearing the case in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi where the two leaders are incarcerated in the case, which is based on the allegation that a diplomatic document sent by the Pakistan embassy in March last year was mishandled by Khan and Qureshi and they violated the secret laws of the country.

The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) charge sheet alleges that the document was never returned by Khan.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Khan as prime minister.

The FIA registered the case on August 15 on the charges of violating the secret laws of the country. They were earlier indicted on Oct 23 but the process was nullified by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The judge said at the last hearing on Dec 4 that a fresh indictment was mandatory in the light of the IHC judgment which declared all proceedings illegal after ruling against the jail trial on procedural grounds.

It resulted in the fresh process to initiate an in-prison trial of Khan and Qureshi after completing all procedures and starting the case from the start.

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