T was a smoke-and-mirrors saga that was bound to collapse under the weight of its own contradictions, and so it has proved over the course of the year. In the latest development, the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected identical appeals seeking a probe into the cipher that Imran Khan claimed was evidence of a `foreign conspiracy` to topple his government.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa at the hearing in his chambers asked why Mr Khan did not himself order an inquiry into the affair given that as premier at the time he enjoyed full authority to do so, and added that the court could not interfere in the executive domain.

When one of the lawyers contended that an investigation into the cipher was a matter of fundamental rights, he disagreed, asking what impact the document had had on anyone`s life.

The saga of the cipher was a red herring from the outset when the PTI chief theatrically brandished the purported document at a rally in March 2022. It was his last-ditch attempt to fire up his support base when it became apparent that his government`s days were numbered and the powers that be were not in `rescue mode`. However, in trying to paint his political rivals as opportunistic villains who would even conspire with foreign powers to topple his government and their `handlers` as passive observers watching this Mr Khan showed an alarming lack of restraint. No doubt point-scoring is part of politics; we have been witness to it in its lowest form by most mainstream parties in recent years. But the former prime minister put Pakistan`s relationship with the US at risk by recklessly accusing a State Department official of threatening this country; he also flouted convention by revealing a confidential exchange that is par for the course in diplomatic circles. Two NSC meetings, one under Mr Khan as premier, did not find evidence of any `conspiracy`, but the PTI chief would not back down. In recent months, he has backtracked in degrees according to his shifting narrative, most recently saying in an interview to foreign media that former army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa, and not the US, was to blame. `And so, [the plan to oust me] wasn`t imported from there. It was exported from here to there,` he claimed. It is a bizarre twist, even for a wholly outlandish story.