ATC frees Qureshi, jails other PTI leaders
In compliance with a recent order, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) has issued "warrants of release" to the superintendent of Central Jail Kot Lakhpat for PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi, acquitted in two separate cases.
ATC Judge Manzar Ali Gill issued the warrants in connection with FIRs 768/23 and 103/23, both registered after the May 9 riots that followed PTI founder Imran Khan's arrest. Qureshi had been acquitted in the cases on August 11.
Addressing the jail superintendent, Judge Gill stated: "This is to authorise and require you to release the accused Shah Mahmood Qureshi from this case forthwith, if
he is not required in any other case."
Separately, ATC Judge Manzer Ali Gill issued a "warrant of commitment of sentences of imprisonment," directing the superintendent of Central Jail Kot Lakhpat to receive PTI leaders Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry, Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed, and others into custody. The superintendent was instructed to execute their sentences in accordance with the law.
In his order, announced on August 11, Judge Gill also awarded sentences to PTI's lawmakers and workers, and ordered the forfeiture of properties belonging to PTI's former governor Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, and other workers under section 7(2) of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
It is noteworthy that, according to judgments announced by ATCs across the province, more than 120 PTI lawmakers and workers have had their properties forfeited. Earlier, the ATC in Faisalabad had ordered the forfeiture of properties from 90 convicts, while the Sargodha court, in two cases, had forfeited the properties of 30 convicts under Section 7(2) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
On May 9, 2023, PTI lawmakers and supporters staged violent protests across the country in reaction to the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan. These protests included the vandalism of military installations and other state-owned buildings, including the Corps Commander's house in Lahore.
A day earlier, an ATC in Lahore unveiled its verdict in two separate May 9 cases, convicting some key PTI figures.
The ATC, which held its proceedings in a courtroom inside Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail, however, acquitted Qureshi in both the cases registered in the wake of rioting incidents that broke out following the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan on May 9, 2023.
Lahore ATC-I Judge Manzer Ali Gill unveiled his verdict reserved a week back in two cases related respectively to burning of police vehicles at Rahat Bakery near Lahore Corps Commander House and attack on Shadman Police Station on May 9, 2023.
In the Rahat Bakery case, the judge acquitted seven out of the 17 accused including Shah Mahmood Qureshi but sentenced the others including Cheema, Dr Yasmin, Ejaz Chaudhry, Rashid to ten years in prison.