A judicial magistrate in Islamabad has once again rejected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur's request for exemption from attending proceedings of a case related to possession of liquor and illegal weapons and maintained his arrest warrants.
On Monday, Gandapur again failed to appear in the court of Judicial Magistrate Mubashir Hassan Chishti despite being summoned. His lawyers were also absent.
Judge Chishti remarked that even after multiple calls for the case, no one appeared in court.
He granted a final deadline for Gandapur until Monday 2:30pm to record his statement under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The court then adjourned the proceedings until that time and warned that failure to appear would result in the forfeiture of the right to record the statement.
When the session resumed, Gandapur's lawyer Raja Zahoor-ul-Hasan came to the rostrum and filed a request for exemption from appearance, citing Gandapur's engagement in the Senate elections.
Judge Chishti, however, asked him either to record the 342 statement or lose the right to do so.
The lawyer gave an undertaking assuring that Gandapur would appear in the next hearing. He said seven co-accused had already been acquitted, and a petition for Gandapur's acquittal was also pending.
The judge noted that the K-P CM had previously committed to appearing in court and recording the statement himself, and that the date had been set according to his own convenience.
The lawyer stated that the Peshawar High Court had granted bail to Gandapur in all related cases, and requested one more date for the 342 statement to be recorded. Judge Chishti told the lawyer to submit the necessary applications, saying he would issue an order shortly.
Later, the court rejected the exemption request and maintained the arrest warrants, ordering that Gandapur be arrested and produced in court. The judge adjourned proceedings until July 22 (today).
The case dates back to Oct 2016, when the Islamabad police claimed to have recovered five Kalashnikov assault rifles, a pistol, six magazines, a bulletproof vest, alcohol and three tear gas shells from a vehicle belonging to the PTI leader outside Bani Gala. The case was registered at Bara Kahu Police Station.
The same judge on July 19 issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the K-P chief minister and directed the station house officer (SHO) concerned to ensure his production before the court.
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