Non-bailable arrest warrant issued against KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur

• Civil judge orders Barakahu SHO to arrest Gandapur.
• Plea seeking exemption from attendance rejected.
• Hearing of Judicial Complex attack case adjourned.

ISLAMABAD: A court in the federal capital city on Wednesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in a case pertaining to arms and liquor recovery.

The KP chief minister’s plea seeking exemption from attendance before the court on medical grounds was also rejected by the court.

Civil judge Shaista Khan Kundi ordered the Barakahu station house officer (SHO) to arrest Gandapur and produce him before the court.

Arms and liquor case

A case was lodged against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader after recovery of five Kalashnikov rifles, a pistol, six magazines, a bullet-proof vest, three teargas shells, and bottles of alcohol in October 2016.

Gandapur, who then served as a provincial minister in KP, was charged under the illegal arms and anti-drugs laws after illicit arms and a bottle of liquor were allegedly recovered from his car.

A local court in Islamabad on March 7 this year overturned the trial court orders declaring KP CM Gandapur a “proclaimed offender” in the said case registered against him in Barakahu police station.

Earlier, a trial court had declared Gandapur an absconder for evading the law in the case.

District and Sessions Court Judge Shahrukh Arjumand had nullified the trial court’s order over a review petition filed by the suspect.

The petitioner’s lawyer had informed the court that Gandapur couldn’t appear in court because of his official engagements as the new KP chief minister. He had requested the court to exempt Gandapur from the proceedings hearing that day.

The lawyer had stated that the trial court had declared Gandapur a proclaimed absconder for continuously skipping the proceedings in the case. He had said that Gandapur hadn’t received the court’s summons due to non-compliance by the process server, designated for delivering the legal documents.

Accepting the request, the sessions judge had directed the lawyer to submit surety bonds worth Rs50,000 on Gandapur’s behalf and present a local person as the guarantor.

The court had then remanded the case back to the trial court while overturning its orders declaring Gandapur an absconder and adjourned the hearing till March 14.

Hearing on Judicial Complex attack adjourned

Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) today adjourned the hearing of the case against KP chief minister pertaining to an attack on the Judicial Complex, Islamabad, on the basis of a medical certificate.

Submitting the medical certificate, Raja Zahoorul Hasan, Gandapur’s counsel, said his client could not appear before the court as his health condition was not well.

“Ali Amin Gandapur is suffering from pain in his leg and doctor has advised him to take rest for one week,” he said in response to the judge’s query why Gandapur did not appear for the hearing despite his lawyer’s taking time for today.

Hasan said the KP chief minister was on a visit to review the flood situation in his province, suddenly his foot slipped.