ATC issues arrest warrants for KP Chief Minister Gandapur

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Ali Amin Gandapur along with PTI leader Amir Mughal over failure to appear before the court.

Anti-Terrorism Court issued warrants after rejecting their pleas seeking exemption in multiple vandalism cases registered at Sangjani and I-9 police station during Azadi March 2022.

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PTI leaders Ali Nawaz Awan, Wasiq Qayyum, Aamer Kiani, and other suspects attended the hearing while CM Gandapur and Amir Mughal failed to appear before the court of ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Supra.

While rejecting the exemption pleas, the Court remarked that it was not a valid reason to argue that one can’t appear before the court because he’s out of the city.

“The onus to ensure appearance before the court falls on suspects and not on the court itself […] no request for exemption of appearance from anyone will be entertained,” the judge remarked, adding that, “we are issuing non-bailable warrants for all the absentee suspects.”

In response, the suspects’ lawyers requested the court for one more chance and reassured that all the suspects would appear before the court in the next hearing.

At this, ATC judge Supra said, “They will be declared absconders if the suspects fail to appear during the next hearing, scheduled for July 8.”