Sheikh Rashid to be indicted on March 2

Investigation officer submits challan in case filed at Aabpara police station

ISLAMABAD:

A local court in Islamabad on Saturday announced a date to indict Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad in a case pertaining to allegations against former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Judicial Magistrate Umar Shabbir said the charges would be framed against the former interior minister on March 2 as the investigation officer had submitted a challan in the case registered at the Aabpara police station earlier this month for accusing Zardari of hatching a plot to kill Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan.

Ahmad also appeared in the court when he submitted a plea seeking registration of a case against the Aabpara police station officials for not returning his belongings, including mobile phones, confiscated at the time of his arrest.

The senior politician said his mobile phone was costly. The judge said police had denied possessing the phone. The magistrate later returned the petition, directing the AML chief to submit it in the district and sessions court as it did not come under his jurisdiction.

During the hearing, Ahmad requested the court to adjourn the hearing until March 15 as he had to attend a conference on March 2. The judge said he could not adjourn the case for long as the challan had been submitted by the police.

On Feb 16, Ahmad was released from the Adiala Jail more than two weeks after he was arrested by the Islamabad police for allegations against the former president and Pakistan Peoples’ Party co-chairman Zardari. He walked free from prison after securing bail from the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Speaking outside the court, the AML chief hoped that only the Supreme Court of Pakistan could save Pakistan as the political crisis continued to deepen amid uncertainty over elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where assemblies were dissolved by the PTI in January last.

He said the government had decided to hold provincial and federal elections at one time, adding that the ruling coalition was running away from polls.

Lashing out at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders, he said they just wanted to eliminate Imran Khan from politics.

He hoped that the top court would ensure the holding of elections in the country and bring the looters to justice. He said Zardari was the leader of a “gang of corrupt persons”.

“I have served as minister 16 times but I was handcuffed and put in solitary confinement,” he said about the episode of his arrest and vowed to stand with Imran Khan.

“I would not spare them,” he warned his opponents. "The way challans are being submitted against me, it seems I have to go back to jail," he said.

Earlier this week, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted bail to the AML chief in the case pertaining to his allegations against PPP co-chair Asif Ali Zardari for plotting to assassinate the PTI chief.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani presided over the hearing of Rashid’s post-arrest bail plea and announced the reserved verdict, and issued an order for the former interior minister to deposit surety bonds of Rs50,000.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2023.