Court admits Sheikh Rashid’s acquittal pleas

Former interior minister and Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has filed three constitutional petitions seeking his acquittal on the grounds of insufficient evidence in the cases about the May 9 incidents.

The Special Anti-Terrorism Court while admitting all the petitions for hearing, issued notices to the investigation teams and summoned parties for arguments on the next date of hearing.

Lawyers Sardar Abdul Razaq and Sardar Shehbaz Advocates filed the petitions on behalf of the former interior minister in cases registered at three police stations, including Cantt, Morgah and Taxila, and the hearings were conducted on Tuesday.

Rashid, his nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafiq and 200 workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who were nominated in the cases, also appeared. The court granted the request for a hearing and called upon the public prosecutor to present arguments on May 14.

The petitions argued that the former interior minister was not present in Rawalpindi on the day in question and that he was falsely charged in connection with the May 9 cases. It was further contended that he should be exonerated from these charges as there were no injuries reported in any of the incidents and there was no audio-video evidence to support the allegations.

The petitions argued that “these are baseless political vendettas and fabricated cases concocted by the police with no possibility of any of the accused being found guilty in these cases due to lack of evidence and testimonies.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2024.