The Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday issued a bailable arrest warrant for PTI founder Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khanum, in connection with the party’s November 26 case, dismissing an exemption plea filed by her to appear for a hearing.
More than 10,000 PTI supporters surged into the city on Nov 26 last year, defying a ban on public gatherings and a lockdown to skirmish with 20,000 security forces enlisted to turn them back. As the demonstrators inched towards the heavily barricaded D-Chowk, the police and security troops employed intense teargas shelling to disperse them.
Aleema was to be indicted in the November 26 protest case registered at Sadiqabad Police Station during today’s hearing, but she did not appear before the court.
During the hearing, the prosecutor objected that the person applying on Aleema’s behalf was not her lawyer, and therefore was not authorised to file an application without a power of attorney.
On this basis, ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah dismissed Aleema’s application for exemption and issued bailable arrest warrants for her.
The other 10 accused in the case appeared in court, while further hearing of the case was adjourned until October 11.
Early in September, the Rawalpindi police booked Aleema, party lawyer Naeem Panjutha and 40 other PTI-linked activists for alleged violence against a journalist outside Adiala Jail.
In October last year, Aleema, her sister Uzma, and other PTI supporters were arrested from Islamabad’s D-Chowk for clashing with the police and violating Section 144, a legal provision that restricts gatherings of four or more people in an area to prevent public disorder or unrest. A few days later, they were released from the Jhelum District Jail after a judge granted them bail.
