- Accused to be declared proclaimed offenders if they do not appear in court at next hearing
ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday declared Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah’s (TLYR) leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi an absconder due to non-appearance before the judge despite being summoned repeated times.
On November 6, workers of TLYR and activists of other religious groups camped at the Faizabad Interchange in Islamabad against the hastily-abandoned change in the oath of elected representatives, virtually paralysing the twin cities for more than two weeks.
Police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel had launched an operation against the protesters after the high court had ordered the clearance of the bridge that connects the federal capital with Rawalpindi. The same day, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa had advised Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to “handle the Islamabad dharna peacefully”.
During the proceedings, the court, while declaring Rizvi, along with other leaders—Maulana Afzal Qadri, Maulana Inayat and Sheikh Izhar—absconders, warned that if the accused were not produced in court within the next 30 days, they would be declared as proclaimed offenders.
ATC Judge Shahrukh Arjumand issued the orders. During the hearing of the case, the prosecutor also stated that all four accused have cases registered against their person but have failed to appear before the court.
The police were also directed by the court to submit the challan in the next hearing, which is scheduled for March 19.
