- ATC separates cases against proclaimed violators from others.
- Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra issues arrest warrants against those absent.
- Start process to declare Aamer Kiani a proclaimed criminal.
ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in the federal capital on Wednesday declared Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Umer Tanveer Butt proclaimed violators.
Separating the case against the two from the rest of the accused, the court also started the process to declare PTI leader Aamer Mehmood Kiani, also proclaimed a criminal.
Adjourning the case to January 15, ATC judge Tahir Abbas Sipra also issued arrest warrants for the accused who were absent from the hearing.
The said case pertains to a first information report (FIR) registered at the I-9 police station in 2022 due to a protest organized by PTI leaders against the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to disqualify the party founder Imran Khan to hold public office. .
The commission’s decision came in the context of Khan’s sentencing in the first Toshakhana case, whose 14-year sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in April last year, in which he was accused of abusing from his position as Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022 to buy and sell gifts in the possession of the State that were received during foreign visits and worth more than 140 million rupees.
The electoral body’s move sparked a strong reaction from PTI workers who held protests across the country against the decision.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed outside the ECP office, where a large number of angry PTI workers converged, chanting anti-government slogans.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Faisal Javed has filed a petition to remove anti-terror provisions from the case.
The latest development adds to the KP chief minister’s legal woes, as the provincial chief executive got a reprieve last week following the ATC’s decision to suspend his arrest warrants, issued in December, in a case registered in the Hassan Abdal police station.
In addition to suspending the arrest warrants, the court also annulled the procedure to declare the prime minister a proclaimed offender.
