ATC reserves verdict in PTV attack case

Court sets aside Alvi's presidential immunity

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Wednesday reserved the verdict on the PTV attack case as it accepted a plea filed by President Arif Alvi wherein he requested the bench to set aside presidential immunity granted to him by the constitution.

Alvi along with other PTI leaders was nominated in the case under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 during the government of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for allegedly attacking the buildings of the PTV and parliament.

However, despite the ending of the immunity, President Alvi skipped today's hearing. PTI leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Aleem Khan and Jahangir Khan Tarin also skipped the hearing seeking exemption from the judge.

Read Leaked conversation: 'Good, govt deserves it,' Imran allegedly told Alvi after PTV attack

During the hearing, the prosecutor said the case against the PTI leaders was "political" and the prosecution supported the acquittal pleas filed by the politicians. The presiding judge responded that then there was no need to hear arguments in the case.

Subsequently, the court reserved the verdict in the case which will be announced on March 15.

On August 31, 2014, in an attempt to topple the then PML-N government, the PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers had marched towards the Prime Minister House and the police were ordered to thwart their march. Subsequent clashes between the protesters and law enforcers resulted in the deaths of three PAT workers. Hundreds of others, including both demonstrators and policemen, were wounded.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan, PAT leader Tahirul Qadri and others along with hundreds of protesters had briefly seized and shut down the state broadcaster on September 1, 2014.

The protesters had stormed the PTV headquarters on Constitution Avenue and transmission of the PTV News and PTV World was cut off for almost 30 minutes. Later, army troops had cleared the buildings and transmission was restored.