ISLAMABAD: A local court in Islamabad on Thursday quashed the orders declaring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur a “proclaimed offender” in a case of possession of illegal arms and liquor.
The court declared Gandapura an absconder for evading the law in a case registered against him at the Barakahu police station after five Kalashnikov rifles, a pistol, six magazines, a bulletproof vest, three teargas shells and liquor bottles were recovered . in 2016.
District and Sessions Court Judge Shahrukh Arjumand quashed the trial court’s order on a review petition filed by Gandapur.
The petitioner’s lawyer informed the court that Gandapur could not appear in the court due to his official engagement as the new KP CM. He asked the court to exclude Gandapur from the proceedings for today.
The lawyer said the trial court had declared Gandapura a declared absconder for constantly skipping proceedings in the case. He said Gandapur had not received the subpoena due to non-compliance by a process server designed to serve legal documents.
The Sessions Judge accepted the application and directed the lawyer to submit a bond of Rs 50,000 on behalf of Gandapur and produce a local person as surety.
The court then sent the case back to the trial court, setting aside its orders declaring Gandapur a fugitive and adjourning the hearing to March 14.
Gandapur, who was then serving as a provincial minister in KP, was charged with illegal arms and drug laws after illegal weapons and a bottle of liquor were found in his car in October 2016.
