ISLAMABAD: Public hearings in a case in which former Prime Minister Imran Khan is accused of leaking state secrets began today, Thursday, at the Judicial Complex in Islamabad, but was adjourned until Nov. 28, his party said, with the court directing the ex-premier to appear in person on that date.

The government had passed an order on Aug. 29 that the case would be heard in prison due to “security concerns.” A special court had since been conducting the trial in jail, with no members of the public or media allowed, until Tuesday when the Islamabad High Court declared the prison trial illegal.

The saga relates to an alleged diplomatic correspondence between Washington and Islamabad that Khan says was proof that his ouster as PM in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April 2022 was part of a US conspiracy to remove him. Washington has repeatedly denied Khan’s accusations.

The government has since accused Khan of leaking state secrets and using them for political gains. A special court was formed on Aug. 21 under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, to adjudicate the case through in-camera proceedings. Khan and his close aide, former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, were indicted in the case last month.

"Special Court Judge Abul Hasanat Muhammad Zulqarnain conducted the hearing and requested a copy of the [Islamabad] High Court decision [declaring jail trial illegal], which his staff promptly provided. The hearing was brief and adjourned until next Tuesday, November 28," Qureshi's lawyer Ali Bukhari told Arab News, adding that the court had summoned Khan and Qureshi in person on that date. 

Khan’s lawyers had opposed the government’s decision to hold a jail trial over concerns the ex-PM would not get a fair trial behind closed doors. Last month, the PTI also took the matter to the Islamabad High Court where its plea was turned down by Chief Justice Aamir Farooq who said there was apparently no malice behind the government’s decision to hold the jail trial.

Khan’s legal team then filed an intra-court appeal against the decision which led the Islamabad High Court to issue a stay order against the prison trial on Tuesday.

The order declared all proceedings of the trial conducted since Aug. 29 as void.

"The proceedings and the trial conducted in jail premises in a manner that cannot be termed as an open trial stand vitiated," said the court order, adding that jail trial orders by the government did not fulfil legal requirements:

“In exceptional circumstances, and where it is conducive to justice, a trial can be conducted in jail in a manner that fulfils the requirement of an open trial or a trial in camera provided it is in accordance with the procedure provided by law.”

The ruling meant the prosecution would have to restart the trial, either in open court or in jail after fulfilling those legal requirements.

Last week, the Pakistan government also approved Khan’s jail trial in a separate case of a £190 million settlement with a property tycoon.

Khan is currently being held at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail where he is serving a three-year jail sentence in a case in which he was convicted in August for not declaring assets earned from the sale of state gifts while he was PM.