RAWALPINDI: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Friday sentenced 82 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers to four months each in prison after they confessed their guilt in cases registered against them and PTI leadership, including PTI founding chairman Imran Khan, in connection with the November 26 protest.
ATC judge Amjad Ali Shah, while hearing the cases, sentenced 82 PTI workers to four months each after they admitted their guilt and also imposed a fine of Rs15,000 against each accused.
PTI founding chairman Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, former president Arif Alvi, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur, and others had also been nominated in the same cases.
The court has summoned 1,609 accused in connection with these cases, out of which, only 362 appeared before the court, while 1,049 remained absent.
During the proceedings, police produced 124 detained accused before the court.
The prosecution informed the court that 82 accused have admitted their guilt to charges related to participating in violent protests.
In their statements, the accused claimed they were poor people and had acted on the instigation of local political leadership. They appealed for leniency and assured the court they would not take part in any future protests, they further said.
The court sentenced 82 accused to four months and a fine of Rs15,000 against them. Prosecutor Zaheer Shah told the court that 1,049 of the summoned individuals had deliberately failed to appear, thereby, hindering the trial proceedings. He requested that their bails be cancelled. The court accepted the prosecution’s request and cancelled the bail of all 1,049 absentees, in addition to revoking post-arrest bail for 25 others, bringing the total number of bail cancellations to 1,074.
The court also ordered the relevant authorities to block the computerised national identity cards (CNICs) and freeze the bank accounts of these 1,074 individuals.
Furthermore, the court issued a contempt of court notice to PTI Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Shandana Gulzar. Prosecutor Zaheer Shah alleged that Gulzar, who claimed to be a lawyer, was drawing a government salary while interfering in court proceedings.
“You have been obstructing the proceedings since morning, which amounts to contempt of court,” the prosecutor told the MNA.
The court adjourned the hearing of the cases till May 7, 8, and 9 and directed the Superintendent of Police (SP) Security to ensure strict security arrangements for the upcoming sessions.
The court also ordered the deployment of personnel of the Anti-Riot Force (ARF) for the hearings.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.