Rawalpindi: Special Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Rawalpindi Judge Amjad Ali Shah has issued non-bailable arrest warrants for 120 accused including PTI founder Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi for their continued non-appearance in the GHQ attack case. done
The court also reserved judgment on PTI leader and opposition leader Umar Ayub’s acquittal plea while adjourning hearing of two petitions challenging the jurisdiction of the court till Wednesday (today).
Imran Khan was produced in the court during Tuesday’s proceedings in Adiala Jail. Umar Ayub’s lawyer, Dr. Babar Awan, presented arguments for his client’s acquittal.
Public Prosecutor Zaheer Shah opposed the acquittal plea saying that similar pleas of Sheikh Rasheed, Shireen Mazari and Umar Tanveer Butt have already been rejected. He argued that the involvement of Umar Ayub was proved by the confessional statements of Umar Tanveer Butt, Wasiq Qayyum Abbasi and Sadaqat Abbasi.
He took the stand that until all the evidence is presented in the court, there can be no acquittal. Umar Ayub took the stand that the Sargodha ATC had acquitted him in a similar case.
However, the prosecutor told the court that the decision of the Sargodha ATC has been challenged in the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court.
After hearing the arguments of the parties, the court reserved its decision on Ayub’s plea of acquittal. Imran Khan’s lawyer Raheel Khan also filed a fresh petition under Section 23 of the Anti-Terrorism Act challenging the court’s jurisdiction.
The petition argued that terrorism provisions were not applicable in the case, as there was no massacre and no building was destroyed at the scene.
The court accepted this new petition for hearing and merged it with the petition filed earlier. Both the applications will be heard on Wednesday (today).
Earlier, the court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for 44 persons, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and several former federal and provincial ministers for their repeated absence. Among those facing warrants are Ali Amin Gandapur, Umar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul, Musrat Jamshed Cheema, Major (retd) Tahir Sadiq, Raja Basharat, Col (retd) Ajmal Saber, Raja Rashid Hafeez, Bilal Ijaz Chatta and Latasab. Sati is involved. Special Public Prosecutor Zaheer Shah informed the court that 75 accused had appeared during the previous hearing. Apart from Imran Khan, three other accused including Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Khadim Hussain are already in custody.