A special court in Pakistan on Tuesday deferred the indictment of the ousted prime minister Imran Khan and his party's vice chairman in the cipher case.
The development came as the court, set up under the Official Secrets Act, adjourned the hearing till next week, Pakistani media reported.
As per the former ruling party, the cable contained a threat from the US to topple the Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government.
What Happened in Adiala Jail in Cipher Case
Tuesday's hearing was being held at Rawalpindi city-located Adiala Jail wherein the copies of challans submitted by the FIA against the PTI leaders were provided to the accused.
During the hearing, FIA special prosecutor Shah Khawar, Khan, Qureshi and their legal teams were in the courtroom.
The Special Court's Judge, Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, conducted the hearing and put the indictment for the next week as the accused's lawyers had refused to receive the copies of the challan during the last hearing.
On October 9, when the previous hearing was held, the court issued copies of the challans (charge sheet) submitted by the FIA against the PTI politicians, and shared them with the accused. Their indictment date was fixed for today.
The challans' copies were not provided during the previous hearing, Pakistan's Geo News channel cited PTI chief's focal person on legal affairs, Umair Niazi, as saying as he interacted with members of the media outside the Adiala jail before the hearing.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the Islamabad High Court had reserved its ruling on Khan's petitions that had sought post-arrest bail and the quashing of the cipher case against the PTI leader.