A Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday directed the relevant authorities to block the national identity card (CNIC) and passport of PTI founder Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, over her failure to attend the hearing despite the execution of a non-bailable arrest warrant against her.
The development came in a case pertaining to a protest staged by the PTI in November last year, in which the court has issued arrest warrants for her multiple times.
The last non-bailable arrest warrant for Aleema in the case was issued on October 22 over her persistent absences from the hearings. It was executed yesterday as Punjab Sub-Divisional Police Officer Azhar Shah presented the warrant before an Islamabad High Court bench and obtained Aleema’s signature on the spot.
During today’s hearing, ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah observed that Aleema “is present everywhere but doesn’t appear before the court”.
Her attendance at the court would be ensured, he remarked.
The judge directed the National Database and Registration Authority director general (DG), as well as the Passports DG, to block her CNIC and passport.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of the properties of her guarantor to the state and directed the State Bank of Pakistan to freeze all of Aleema’s bank accounts.
Following these directives, the court adjourned the hearing till Oct 27.
Case background
The case at hand famously came to be knows as the November 26 protest case. The said protest had seen more than 10,000 PTI protesters surge into Islamabad last year, defying a ban on public gatherings and a lockdown to skirmish with 20,000 security forces enlisted to turn them back.
A day of clashes between security forces and protesters in the city’s Red Zone had ended in the PTI leadership’s hasty retreat, with the party announcing that it was calling off its planned protest sit-in “for the time being”.
Subsequently, cases were registered against several PTI leaders under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Two of these cases were registered at the Taxila police station and one each at the Sadiqabad and Naseerabad police stations.
Aleema, along with 10 others, was booked in the case registered at the Sadiqabad police station.
The Rawalpindi ATC has issued arrest warrants for her in the case at least four times.
The last and third non-bailable arrest warrants for her were issued during the Oct 22 hearing, when the court had also issued show-cause notices to two police officers for submitting a bogus report regarding the non-arrest Aleema Khan.
The court had observed that the officers had presented a “fabricated and misleading report” claiming that Aleema Khan had gone into hiding, despite videos circulating on social media showing her addressing the media outside Adiala Jail the previous evening.
Prior to that, the court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Aleema over her continued absence from the proceedings during an Oct 20 hearing as well.
Previously, the court had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for her during a hearing on Oct 14, noting that she had failed to appear twice before the court. During that hearing, the court had also rejected her counsel’s plea for exemption from personal appearance, observing that she was to be charged with criminal offences in connection with the Nov 26 protest.
The ATC had also issued a bailable arrest warrant for Aleem on Oct 8. Aleema was to be indicted during that hearing but didn’t appear before the court.
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