Skip to main content

Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s arrest warrant suspended until May 31

The arrest warrant against Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai was suspended on Saturday by a judicial magistrate in Quetta.

A candidate for the presidential election, Achakzai was booked under section 448 (house trespass) and section 447 (criminal trespass) in a First Information Report (FIR) registered at Gwalmandi police station on March 11.

Officials from the local administration and Quetta, as well as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) charged Achakzai with illegal occupation of government land and interference in official duties when his security guard allegedly resisted a team of officials who raided a plot of land opposite Achakzai’s residence.

The guard was taken into custody and was found possessing a firearm without a licence, according to the FIR.

The warrant was issued after the PkMAP chief failed to appear in court on April 22 for a hearing in connection with the FIR.

While issuing the arrest warrant, the judicial magistrate directed police to produce Achakzai before the court on April 27.

In today’s hearing, Judge Kamran Baloch suspended the arrest warrant and adjourned the hearing till May 31.

Achakzai’s defence counsel Advocate Qari Rehmatullah argued that the charges themselves were “brought forward with malice”.

He added that Achakzai was not even present in Quetta during the raid, despite being named in the FIR.

“It is possible that a relative or some other family member near his residence occupied the land, as Mehmood Khan Achakzai spends most of his time in Islamabad for his political activities,” Rehmatullah told the court.

Rehmatullah, who is also the president of the Quetta Bar Association, told Dawn.com that Achakzai intends to approach the Balochistan High Court on Monday to get the FIR dismissed.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/V0LuYx2

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Republican primary race for president in 2024

The Republican primary race for president in 2024 is already shaping up to be a competitive one. There are a number of high-profile candidates who have already announced their intention to run, and more are expected to join the field in the coming months. The frontrunner for the nomination is former President Donald Trump. Trump has been teasing a 2024 run for months, and he has a large and loyal following among Republican voters. However, he is also a polarizing figure, and his candidacy could alienate some moderate Republicans. Another potential contender for the nomination is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has been praised by many conservatives for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his opposition to vaccine mandates. He is also seen as a rising star in the Republican Party. Other potential candidates include former Vice President Mike Pence, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Senator Tim Scott. Pence is a more traditional Republican who could appeal to moderate vote...

Ministers rubbish notion that proposed retirement age extension to favour ‘one particular institution’

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday rubbished the notion that a proposed extension in the retirement age was to favour “one particular institution”, adding that the move would be implemented across the board if approved. The rebuttal comes in the wake of media reports claiming that the government was mulling changes to the Constitution to fix the tenure of the chief justice . Currently, judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 65 years, as stipulated in Article 179 of the Constitution. While giving his opinion recently on the reports of the constitutional amendment, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said he “will not vehemently turn down the proposals related to the tenure of the chief justice”. Addressing the issue during a press conference in Islamabad today along since Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the law minister, Attaullah said the extension in the retirement age was “a proposal to a...

In noisy NA session, Bilawal endorses PTI’s call for judicial inquiry into May 9 riots

In his maiden speech during a session of the newly elected National Assembly, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday endorsed the PTI’s call for a judicial inquiry into the May 9 riots. He passed these remarks in reference to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s recent call for the formation of a judicial commission to probe the violent protests that erupted across the country following PTI founder Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9 last year. “I call upon the chief justice Supreme Court of Pakistan (Justice Qaez Faiz Isa) to form [a judicial commission] and see who are the beneficiaries [of May 9],” Gandapur had said in a fiery speech after being elected the chief executive of KP. Speaking on the floor of the lower house of the Parliament today, Bilawal said he endorsed Gandapur’s demand. But at the same time, he stated that the result should be accepted by everyone, including the Imran-led party. “It is not possible that someone attacks our institution and th...