ISLAMABAD:The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday held that the proceedings on the bail plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in cipher case registered under the Official Secrets Act will take place in an open court.

The IHC held this while announcing its verdict that it reserved earlier this week on the plea of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) seeking in-camera hearing on the PTI chief’s bail application in the cipher case.

The IHC said that open court hearing on the bail plea will be held on October 9. However, the IHC said that arguments by lawyers on documents regarded as sensitive will be heard in-camera.

In its plea on Monday, the FIA had requested to the IHC for an in-camera hearing on Imran Khan’s bail plea in the cipher case. The FIA had feared that an open court hearing could harm Pakistan’s diplomatic ties with other states if the matter is discussed publicly.

In August this year, the FIA had booked Imran Khan under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly misplacing and misusing the cipher-a classified document- for vested political interests.