ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi after issuing non-bailable warrants in a case concerning defamation of state institutions.
The order was issued by a district and sessions court after CM Afridi failed to appear before it despite repeated notices.
The case was registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) against the firebrand politician under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), accusing him of levelling misleading allegations and harming the reputation of the state institutions.
Senior Civil Judge Abbas Shah conducted a hearing of the case and ordered the authorities concerned to arrest and produce CM Afridi.
The court subsequently adjourned the hearing and fixed February 21 as the next date of hearing.
It is the second time the district and sessions court has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for the KP CM, as Judge Shah had issued the same order last month.
This development adds to the legal woes of the KP chief executive, as earlier this month, reports from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency and Nadra linked video evidence of the May 9 riots case to Afridi, prompting the court to seek a complete report on February 14.
The May 9, 2023, events refer to the riots that were triggered by the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Khan from the premises of Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a graft case.
During the protests, the miscreants targeted several civil and military installations across the country.
Separately, CM Afridi, while addressing a convocation ceremony at the University of Engineering Technology (UET) Peshawar today, said that when it came to the interests of the province, he was ready to speak to everyone.
He added that he would not allow Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to be turned once again into a testing ground.
He stressed that he would not go to anyone's door for personal interests, but made it clear that no matter how much he might dislike someone, he would sit with them for the sake of the province.
Referring to the law and order situation, Afridi said he had held a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and that a session of the Apex Committee had also been convened.
He added that he would meet officials from security institutions again today, emphasising that peace and stability were the foremost issues facing the province and that development would only follow once security was ensured.
The chief minister warned that anyone who believed they could impose "closed-door" decisions through intimidation was mistaken.
He said every institution should avoid interfering in the domain of others, noting that in Pakistan the habit of one institution meddling in another's affairs had become a major problem and was one of the key reasons economic stability remained elusive.
The KP CM concluded by saying that his government would no longer be part of what he called failed policies that had harmed the province for years.
