PTI leader appears before judge; proceedings as proclaimed offender dropped, hearing set for April 6
Former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur. Photo: File
ISLAMABAD:
A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Friday indicted former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur and co-accused Asad Farooq Khan in the audio leak case, while simultaneously suspending Gandapur’s arrest warrants and terminating proceedings against him as a proclaimed offender.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Nasr Minallah Baloch conducted the hearing, before whom both Gandapur, accompanied by his counsel Advocate Raja Zahoorul Hassan, and co-accused Asad Farooq Khan appeared in person.
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The judge questioned Gandapur over his repeated absences from court proceedings. “You have not been appearing before the court,” the judge said. Gandapur replied that he had been unable to attend due to the security situation, adding that roads had been closed and curfew imposed on previous occasions. He also maintained that he had only been asking about a licence during the call in question, and said that his mobile phones had been seized during raids.
The court observed that the case had been dragging on for a long time without charges even having been framed, and noted that a conviction cannot be secured merely on the prosecution’s request if the accused appears before the court.
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Advocate Raja formally requested the cancellation of the arrest warrants, arguing that the court has the authority to do so once an accused appears before it. Judge Baloch agreed, cancelling the warrants while cautioning Gandapur.
“The warrants are being cancelled, but be careful in the future and appear before the court,” he said. He further directed that if a similar situation arises, Gandapur should file an application for exemption from appearance rather than remain absent.
The court adjourned further hearing of the case until April 6.
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Last month, the District and Sessions Court issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Gandapur in the audio leak case, ordering police to arrest him and present him before the court.
The move followed his absence from the hearing, which also led the court to begin steps for declaring him an absconder.
The case in question was registered against Gandapur under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) at Golra police station. According to sources, the audio of the PTI leader speaking about collecting weapons near Islamabad had also been made part of the case record and police sought Gandapur’s physical remand to recover arms.
