ISLAMABAD: Azam Khan, the former principal secretary of ex-prime minister Imran Khan, has not become an approver but will be a prosecution witness against the PTI chairman in the cipher case.
During the last PDM government, the impression was given as if the key bureaucratic aide of Imran Khan during his premiership had become an approver. Informed sources said that Azam Khan is not the approver but an important prosecution witness, who has already recorded his statement under Section 164 of CrPC.
The FIR, registered in the cipher case by the FIA, nominates Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi as accused. The FIR though also included the names of Asad Umar and Azam Khan, their involvement in the case as accused was subject to the outcome of evidence against them during the investigations.
Azam, who had gone missing for some time, made headlines mid-July this year after he accused the ex-prime minister of using the US cipher to create a false narrative against the establishment and the-then opposition.
According to Azam’s statement, on March 8, 2022, the then foreign secretary approached him and informed him of the cipher sent to his residence later that evening. Khan said the foreign secretary told him that then foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had already discussed the cipher with the PTI chief. This was confirmed the next day when Azam Khan presented the diplomatic cable to the former prime minister.
