Nine years after Atiqa Odho was booked in a case for allegedly possessing liquor at Islamabad International Airport (IIA), the actor has been acquitted by a court in Rawalpindi.
According to details, the judge said that there was no evidence against the actor. Odho had been booked for allegedly smuggling two bottles of foreign liquor in her bag while she was checking in for Pakistan International Airline’s (PIA) Karachi-bound flight PK-301 in June 2011. The liquor had been confiscated on the spot as per the law and Odho, who was secretary information of Pervez Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) at the time, had been allowed to travel.
However, Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was CJP back then, took suo motu notice of the incident after the news was widely discussed on television. He directed police and Customs officials to clarify why a case had not been registered against the actor. Following the notice, Customs officials sent a lawsuit to the Airport police station, which then registered a case against Odho under Section 3/4 of the Prohibition Order of 1979.
The actress was granted interim bail three days later from the court of Rawalpindi Additional Session Judge Iqbal Chadhar. The court also restrained the police from arresting or harassing the artist. The police later recorded her statement and presented the charge sheet after 14 days due to pressure from the Supreme Court.
Odho regularly presented herself in court for six months until she was granted immunity from appearing before the court until the final verdict.
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The actor has not yet responded to her acquittal.
