The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday directed to stop former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's trial in the cipher case inside Adiala Jail.
This was decided as a two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, heard an intracourt appeal against Imran's trial in jail.
During Tuesday's hearing, Imran was represented by Salman Akram Raja. The attorney general appeared on behalf of the government.
During the hearing, Justice Hassan asked what extraordinary circumstances exist that Imran's trial is being conducted inside jail premises.
The attorney general replied that he could seek records from all the relevant departments on why such a decision was taken and present them before the court.
At this, Justice Hassan observed that on closer scrutiny, all three notifications issued in this regard appear to be discordant with the relevant rules of the high court for conducting trials.
The court asked the attorney general to explain when, under what circumstance and on what basis it was decided to hold Imran's trial in jail.
The court further observed that it was only two days ago that the federal cabinet approved the jail trial, what were the reasons that the federal cabinet was required to take such a step, adding that several questions needed answers.
After hearing the arguments from both sides, the court later issued an interim order against Imran's trial in jail.