The acquittal of Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case will be a large relief for PTI.

In a momentous shift of events, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) delivered a ruling that brought relief to the beleaguered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The judgments for PTI founder Imran Khan and Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case, concerning allegations of exploiting classified diplomatic information, were struck down by the court. A pair of HC judges, Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb have given PTI a breather with their evaluation of case decisions.

When the Cabinet served, Imran Khan was accused of leaking confidential information relayed by the country’s envoy in United States; The most recent order is a turnaround of fate for Khan and Qureshi who, notwithstanding serving many court cases after their ouster in 2022, are coming from being jailed a few days back.

Though it may look like a win to PTI, Khan and Qurshi’s wait for liberation is not yet over. The two leaders are presently being held in different cases so they cannot be let out now. Nonetheless, there is hope that Imran Khan could be out any moment from now according to his party’s chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan who also emphasized how much faith they had placed on court for a fair outcome.

The codegate affair became one of the most dramatic episodes on Pakistan’s political landscape as it started with a sensational public disclosure about supposed conspiracy against the state by Khan, followed by series adjournments (adjournments are sessions when cases go on hold) and trials that have kept the nation anxious, listening tensely for each new bit of information leaked through audios. PTI is faced with a myriad of litigation challenges while at the same time trying to hold on to its political position amidst all these tribulations.