ISLAMABAD; A district and sessions court has issued arrest warrants for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in a case related to the recovery of arms and liquor.
Judicial Magistrate Mubashar Ali Chishti issued the warrants on Tuesday, directing that Gandapur be arrested and presented before the court on September 17.
At the outset of the hearing, no representative of the chief minister was present. Later, Gandapur’s lawyer, Raja Zahur ul Hassan, appeared and requested that the arrest warrants be suspended. He argued that if the accused appeared in court, the warrants should be cancelled.
Judge Chishti responded, “Bring the accused before me, and I will cancel the arrest warrants.”
The counsel further contended that media reports about the warrants had already caused humiliation to his client. The judge, however, remarked that the court could not dictate media coverage and noted that even if a junior lawyer had appeared earlier, the case could have been adjourned.
Rejecting the lawyer’s plea, the court maintained the arrest warrants. The next hearing has been scheduled for September 17.
The case was originally registered at Bhara Kahu police station, naming Chief Minister Gandapur as an accused.