Courts in the twin cities on Tuesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants in two separate cases involving senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) figures, including Aleema Khanum, sister of party founder Imran Khan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Aleema Khan in connection with a PTI protest case stemming from the November 26 demonstrations. The case was registered at Sadiqabad police station.

ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah ruled that there was no legal justification for Ms Khan’s absence from court proceedings, noting that she neither appeared before the court nor sought an exemption. Her counsel, Faisal Malik, was also absent, prompting the court to proceed with the hearing in their absence.

The court accepted Special Prosecutor Zaheer Shah’s request to include National Counter Cyber Crime Investigation (NCCI) official Salman Niaz as a prosecution witness and adjourned the hearing until Wednesday (today).

Earlier, the same court dismissed Ms Khan’s plea seeking the removal of terrorism charges and rejected her challenge to the court’s jurisdiction under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). Judge Shah ruled that the case fell within the ambit of the ATA, rejecting the defence’s argument that protest-related cases should not be tried in an anti-terrorism court.

According to the prosecution, Ms Khan relayed a message from her brother Imran Khan from Adiala Jail, allegedly calling for nationwide protests that later turned violent. 

Special Prosecutor Zaheer Shah argued that the Faizabad protest resulted in injuries to police personnel and that gunfire struck a police van, actions which, he said, met the legal threshold for terrorism.

The prosecution also accused the defence of employing delaying tactics, including repeated adjournment requests citing a lawyers’ strike.

During earlier proceedings, the court ordered the unfreezing of bank accounts belonging to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust and Namal University, clarifying that prosecutors had never sought their freezing.

The November 26 protests saw PTI supporters march towards Islamabad despite government restrictions, leading to clashes with security personnel in the Red Zone.

Following the unrest, multiple cases were registered under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act at Taxila, Sadiqabad and Naseerabad police stations. Proceedings in the Sadiqabad case are ongoing at the ATC Rawalpindi.

Separately, an Islamabad court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi in a case related to allegedly misleading statements against state institutions and damage to their reputation.

The case was registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Authority (NCCIA) under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA ), 2016, following allegations that the chief minister made false and defamatory claims against state institutions.

During the hearing, Senior Civil Judge Abbas Shah noted that CM Afridi had once again failed to appear despite repeated summons. The court subsequently ordered his immediate arrest and directed law enforcement authorities to ensure his production before the court. The hearing was adjourned till February 21.