RAWALPINDI: The Special Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi has dismissed an application filed by Aleema Khanum, the principal accused in the case registered in connection with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protest of November 26 and sister of the party’s former chairman, seeking to summon 21 witnesses, including federal and provincial ministers.The court ruled that 19 prosecution witnesses had already been cross-examined at length during the trial and that the same exercise could not be repeated by summoning court witnesses. Aleema Khanum appeared before the court on Wednesday along with her counsel, Faisal Malik, while Special Prosecutor Zaheer Shah concluded his arguments opposing the application.
The prosecution argued that a court witness is never a party to the case and that the defence is free to call any witness in support of its own case. It further submitted that the defence had so far failed to produce any material or documentary evidence in support of its position. According to the prosecution, the application to summon court witnesses was malicious and intended to delay the conclusion of the trial. It contended that the request was merely an attempt to give the case a political colour and that, under the Criminal Procedure Code, the request was irrelevant. The prosecution maintained that if the court did not find sufficient legal grounds, the witnesses could not be summoned. The prosecution also stated that the defence had denied the allegations from the outset despite the evidence already before the court.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court observed in its order that the 19 prosecution witnesses had been thoroughly cross-examined during the proceedings. It noted that defence counsel had also extensively cross-examined witnesses regarding video footage and newspaper clippings and held that the same exercise could not be repeated through the summoning of court witnesses.
It is pertinent to note that Aleema Khanum had sought to summon Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Federal Information Minister Atta Tarar and Punjab Information Minister Uzma Bukhari, along with 21 other individuals, including editors, news anchors and bureau chiefs from various newspapers and television channels. Defence counsel had completed arguments on the application last week.
In another case, the Special Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi has sentenced five men, named in a kidnapping-for-ransom case registered at RA Bazar Police Station to, life imprisonment.
According to the prosecution, the case was registered by RA Bazar Police on May 9, 2024, under Section 365A of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Muhammad Ali Qasim, son of the abducted person. The complaint stated that Qasim Ishaq was abducted outside a mosque near his residence.
Police later arrested five accused Saeed Ahmed, Shahzad Yousaf, Sarfaraz Khan, Farooq Ahmed and Obaidullah. After completion of the trial, the court sentenced all of them to life imprisonment. It further ordered each of them to pay Rs1 million in compensation for the mental and physical suffering inflicted on the abductee. It ruled that if any convict fails to pay the compensation, he will have to undergo an additional two and a half years of imprisonment.
It also ordered that, in the event of non-payment, the properties of the convicts be sold to recover the compensation amount. The court also converted their earlier detention period to be considered as part of the sentence under CrPC.
