GHQ attack case: Acquittal pleas of Imran, KP CM, Qureshi dismissed

RAWALPINDI: The Anti-Terrorism No. 1 Friday dismissed the acquittal petitions of 12 accused, including the PTI founder chairman Imran Khan, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in the GHQ attack case.

Judge Amjad Ali Shah declared the acquittal petitions ineffective and declared that since the accused had been indicted, they should face the trial.

The court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for six accused including Zain Qureshi, Chaudhry Bilal, Nasir Mahfouz, Shaheer Sikandar, Muhammad Asim and Shahbaz Ahmed for their continuous absence in the case and directed the concerned police to arrest and present them in the court on Saturday (today).

For this purpose, the court issued a written order for separate arrest warrants for all the accused.

During the hearing yesterday, 12 accused, including Imran Khan, Ali Amin Gandapur, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Shibli Faraz, Sheharyar Afridi, Fawad Chaudhry, Kanwal Shozab and Omar Tanveer Butt, were acquitted.

During the hearing of petitions, Special Public Prosecutor Zaheer Shah and PTI lawyers Faisal Chaudhry and Muhammad Faisal Malik appeared in the court along with the legal team.

After hearing the arguments of lawyers from both sides, the court ruled that the acquittal petition after the indictment was ineffective.

During the hearing of petitions filed by Fawad Chaudhry against his indictment in the GHQ attack case under Section 265D of the Criminal Procedure Code, Prosecutor Zaheer Shah took the position that the petition should be dismissed and the case heard on a daily basis.

The government lawyer’s position was that since the accused had been indicted and the evidence provided by the prosecution, the trial should be conducted on which bitter words were exchanged between the prosecution and the PTI lawyers, which created a ruckus in the court. Faisal Chaudhry, the lawyer of the accused, was of the view that the prosecution was repeatedly asking for the hearing of the case on a daily basis. He also asked why other cases were not being heard daily. The lawyers of the accused were of the view that the hearing of all the cases should be stopped and the GHQ attack case be heard immediately and decided.

The court dismissed this application after hearing the arguments of lawyers from both sides.

Similarly, the post-arrest bail application of three accused, including Col. (retd) Ajmal Sabir, arrested in Liaquat Bagh protest case, was also dismissed.

On the post-arrest bail application of Col. (retd) Ajmal Sabir, Raja Ziad Kayani and Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed, arrested in seven cases, Qaiser Abbas Shah Advocate appeared on behalf of the accused while Rana Rafaqat Advocate represented the prosecution. The three accused were arrested on September 28, October 5 and November 26, respectively and cases were registered by the Taxila Police Station, City Police Station, New Town Police Station, Dhamial Police Station, Civil Lines Police Station, and Waris Khan Police Station.

The court also dismissed the petitions of Muhammad Javed, Muhammad Ahmed Chatha, Rai Hassan Nawaz and Umar Naveed Satti for permission to go abroad.