LHC rejects petition seeking cancellation of Ayyan Ali's arrest warrants

High court registrar says hearing cannot be fixed due to Ayyan's absence from the country

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court rejected a petition submitted by model Ayyan Ali – accused in the currency smuggling case – seeking cancellation of her arrest warrants, Express News reported on Wednesday.

The court's registrar rejected the petition and stated that the date for hearing cannot be fixed due to the petitioner's absence from the country.

Ayyan's counsel, Aftab Bajwa, had filed a plea requesting the customs court to withdraw her arrest warrants. The petition quoted Article 10-A, arguing that every citizen has the right to a transparent trial.



In February, a customs court in Rawalpindi sought details of Ayyan’s assets. Judge Arshad Hussain presided over the hearing during which the model's counsel urged the court to postpone the proceedings.

Rejecting the request, the judge said that the court could not let legal proceedings be hampered and questioned as to why Ayyan was unable to come to Pakistan when she could travel from Dubai to Oman.

He had maintained that Ayyan shall be declared a proclaimed offender if she failed to appear before the court in the next hearing.



Case history

In 2015, Ayyan was arrested at the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Airport while boarding a flight to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrying $506,800 without the State Bank's permission.

She was sent to jail and the government put her name on the Exit Control List (ECL). But she subsequently left for Dubai after she was released on bail and a court ordered the removal of her name from the ECL.