RAWALPINDI: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Rawalpindi on Tuesday rejected the petitions filed by the former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan, Fawad Chaudhry and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan, seeking the provision of CCTV camera footage of the court’s hearing dated December 5, 2024 in the GHQ attack case.
Judge Amjad Ali Shah agreed with Prosecutor Syed Zaheer Shah’s argument in which he had said that the court was located in the area, which was administered by the Punjab government, so, therefore, either the Lahore High Court (LHC) or the Punjab Home Department should be approached for obtaining the footage.
Meanwhile, the court also indicted one more person in the GHQ attack case besides declaring two others namely Asim and Shaheer Iskandar as proclaimed offenders.
The latest person to be indicted in the case was former MNA Bilal Ahmad.
Later, the court adjourned the case’s hearing until January 6, 2025.
On January 6, the court will formally begin the trial in the case following the indictment of a total of 117 suspects so far.
Last week, the ATC Rawalpindi dismissed the acquittal pleas of several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including party founder Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in connection with the May 9, 2023, GHQ attack case.
The court also rejected the acquittal requests of PTI leaders Shibli Faraz, Shahryar Afridi, Kanwal Shauzab, Umar Tanvir Butt, and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry.
Special Public Prosecutor Zaheer Shah argued against the acquittal petitions, while the PTI leaders were represented by lawyers Faisal Chaudhry and Faisal Malik. The court ruled that the pleas were rendered “infructuous” after the accused were formally indicted in the case.
Additionally, the court rejected requests from the four accused to travel abroad due to incomplete documentation.
