ISLAMABAD (National Times) The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday sought the permission of Islamabad High Court (IHC) to present the statement of US Assistant Secretary Donald Lu given before a Congress committee as evidence in the cipher case against the PTI founder and Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
The FIA, in a miscellaneous application submitted to the IHC bench of Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, requested for allowing it to file more evidence in the cipher case.

The chief justice expressed his concern that the FIA wanted to present extra evidence when the hearing of the appeals was about to complete.
He said that as per the criminal law the prosecution had to tell the reasons that whether the said evidence was relevant.
Though the prosecution had the legal right to file a miscellaneous application but the court had serious reservations on its filing at the current stage, he added.

Justice Miangul Hassan questioned the prosecutor that whether they wanted to present Donald Lu as a witness or it might be an attempt to delay the case for two to three months.
On the occasion, the court also sought an affidavit from the state counsel who had conducted cross-examination of witnesses on behalf of the PTI founder and Qureshi.
During the hearing, the Advocate General Islamabad informed the court that state counsel on behalf of the two accused were appointed on January 26, and appeared before the trial court on January 27.
State counsel Abdul Rehman said that when they appeared they were instructed by the trial court to conduct cross-examination.
The court summoned the special prosecutor for arguments on Friday and adjourned the case.