A district court and sessions in Islamabad on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, in the case of recovery of long-standing spirits and weapons, after it did not appear before the court.
The court ordered that CM Gandapur was arrested and presented on September 17. A case against him has been registered at Bara Kahu Police Station.
Judge Magistrate Mubashir Hassan Chishti had issued arrest orders for CM Gandapur after dismissing his request in search of exemption from personal appearance.
Gandapur’s lawyer, Raja Zahoor-Ul-Hassan, asked the court to suspend arrest orders, citing public shame caused by the coverage of the media.
The court rejected the plea, declaring: “You produce the accused and will cancel the arrest orders.” The judge added that a minor lawyer could have requested a new hearing date, which would have been scheduled.
Read: The court rejects the application of KP cm
In previous hearings, the court said that he had given a wide opportunity to the cm of KP Ali Amin Gandapur and warned that a verdict could be issued in his absence if he did not appear. “No more relief will be granted if the statement is not registered before July 21,” said the magistrate in a written order.
Gandapur lost the Julio hearing, which led the court to issue arrest orders and direct him to register his statement in person or by video link at the next hearing.
The case dates back to October 2016, when the Islamabad police claimed to have recovered five Kalashnikov assault rifles, a gun, six magazines, a bulletproof vest, alcohol and three tear gas shells of a vehicle belonging to the Bani Bani gala to the bullets near Bani.
Gandapur has constantly denied the accusations, stating that he was traveling with two rifles of licensed Kalashnikov and that a valid weapons license was present in the vehicle. He also said that the bottle supposedly contained alcohol contained honey.
The case has remained pending for almost nine years, in large part due to the repeated absence of Gandapur of the Court. His lawyers have repeatedly requested that the General defender registers a statement in his name, but these requests have been constantly rejected by virtue of section 342.
