Supreme Court judge recuses himself from hearing on cipher probe

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

trar Office’s objections on petitions seeking an investigation into a cipher presented by former prime minister Imran Khan as evidence of a “foreign conspiracy” to oust him.

The hearing, which was scheduled for Tuesday, was set to review petitions filed by Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Syed Tariq Badar and Naeem ulHasan last year, calling for the formation of a “high-powered commission” to probe the alleged “foreign conspiracy.”

The petitions had named the federation of Pakistan through the law and justice secretary, the prime minister, and the cabinet secretary as respondents in the case.

However, the applications were earlier returned over objections by the Registrar’s Office and were subsequently challenged by the petitioners.

During the hearing, Justice Masood decided to recuse himself and sent the petitions back to the top judge for further investigation. In a dramatic turn of events, Khan claimed at a rally in March of last year that he had evidence of a “foreign conspiracy” to oust his government.