Islamabad:
A judicial magistrate in Islamabad once again rejected the request for exemption from the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, to attend the procedure of a case linked to the possession of alcohol and illegal weapons and maintained his arrest terms.
Monday, Gandapur did not appear again before the court of the judicial magistrate Mubashhir Hassan Chishti despite his convicted person. His lawyers were also absent.
Judge Chishti pointed out that even after several calls for the case, no one appeared before the court.
He granted a final deadline to Gandapur until Monday 2:30 p.m. to record his declaration under article 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The court then postponed the procedure until that time and warned that the fact of not appearing would involve the confiscation of the right to register the declaration.
When the session resumed, Gandapur’s lawyer, Raja Zahoor-Uul-Hasan, came to La Rostre and filed an application for exemption, citing Gandapur’s commitment to the Senate elections.
Judge Chishti, however, asked him either to register declaration 342, or to lose the right to do so.
The lawyer gave a company ensuring that Gandapur will appear at the next hearing. He said that seven co-accused had already been acquitted and that a petition for Gandapur’s acquittal was also pending.
The judge noted that the KP CM had already undertaken to appear before the court and to register the declaration itself, and that the date had been fixed according to its own convenience.
The lawyer said that the High Court of Peshawar had given a deposit to Gandapur in all related cases and had asked for one more date for declaration 342 to be registered. Judge Chishti told the lawyer to submit the necessary requests, saying that he would make an order shortly.
Later, the court rejected the request for exemption and maintained the arrest warrants, ordering that Gandapur be arrested and produced before the court. The judge postponed the procedure until July 22 (today).
The case dates back to October 2016, when Islamabad police said they had recovered five Kalashnikov assault rifles, a pistol, six magazines, a bulletproof vest, alcohol and three tear gas buses from a vehicle belonging to the PTI chef outside Bani Gala. The case was recorded at the Bara Kahu police station.
The same judge on July 19 issued non -reducing arrest mandates for the chief minister of KP and ordered the resort’s chamber officer (SHO) to guarantee his production in court.
