The apex court may have ordered anti-terrorism courts (ATCs) to conclude trials in all May 9 rioting cases in four months. However, an ATC in Rawalpindi on Saturday once again deferred a slew of GHQ attack and May 9 cases due to slackness of prosecution and absence of witnesses.
When Rawalpindi's ATC Judge Syed Amjad Ali Shah resumed hearing the cases, he was informed that two key witnesses in the GHQ attack cases — Sub Inspector Riaz and Magistrate Mujtaba-ul-Hasan — had not showed up, respectively due to official duty at a cricket stadium and vacations.
In view of the absence of the witnesses, the judge after consulting with the prosecution and the counsels for the suspects deferred the hearing of the cases till April 16 while ordering the witnesses to appear in the court at the next hearing. Interestingly, both the witnesses have been summoned continually but they have failed to appear in any hearing of the case in the last two months.
In the cases related to the May 9 riots, vandalism, and arson registered at three police stations — Waris Khan, City Police Station, and Hazro Police Station — the charge sheets were submitted, and copies were distributed among the accused.
The indictment in the case is scheduled for April 19. However, the court is unlikely to indict the accused on 19th because copies of the charge sheets have not been provided to all the accused including PTI founder Imran Khan, Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former minister Shireen Mazari, and National Assembly opposition leader Omar Ayub.
Meanwhile, the court expressed serious displeasure over the non-submission of charge sheets in ten cases, including the attack on GHQ Gate 4, the burning of a sensitive agency's building, the attack on the Army Museum, and the arson at the Metro Bus Station.
The court summoned former SP City Faisal Saleem and ordered that the charge sheets in these cases must be submitted by the next hearing. The accused in these cases have also been summoned.
The court accepted requests for exemption from appearance filed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Senator Shibli Faraz, and Shireen Mazari.
Former Punjab Assembly deputy speaker Wasiq Qayyum Abbasi, upon receiving copies of the charge sheets in three cases, informed the court that he has neither turned approver against Imran Khan nor given any statement to the police or before a magistrate as a prosecution witness.
He also submitted a formal written statement to the court in this regard.
Omar Ayub Khan, former interior minister Sheikh Rashid, and PTI leaders Rashid Shafiq, Major Tahir Sadiq, Sadaqat Abbasi, Basharat Raja, Seemabia Tahir were among the 500 accused who appeared in court. The police had implemented extremely tight security arrangements for the hearing.
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