Imran Khan & Qureshi indicted in cipher case.

ISLAMABAD -- A special court established under the Official Secrets Act on Monday indicted former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case. The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that reportedly went missing from Imran's possession. The PTI alleges that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran from office. The PTI chief was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison in the Toshakhana graft case on August 5. The IHC had suspended his sentence on August 29 but he remained in jail because he was on judicial remand in the cipher case. On September 30, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had submitted a challan - a charge sheet - in the special court naming Qureshi as the principal accused in the cipher case. The court had decided that the two PTI leaders would be indicted in the case on October 17. However, last week the court had put off the indictment till today's hearing. Today, Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain conducted the hearing at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail.

The court formally commenced the trial in the case and summoned the witnesses at the next hearing on Oct 27. The charge sheet read out by...