LAHORE:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was indicted on Monday in the case related to the arson of Shadman police station on May 9, 2023. Today, the Anti-Terrorism Court in Kot Lakhpat Jail of Lahore held a hearing for the Shadman arson case, where Judge Khalid Arshad formally charged PTI’s Qureshi and summoned witnesses for the next hearing. The court indicted Shah Mahmood Qureshi and adjourned the case until July 22. Previously, Qureshi was brought to Kot Lakhpat Jail under heavy security for the proceedings related to the May 9 incidents. The anti-terrorism court had summoned him for the indictment process. On July 3, a district and sessions court acquitted PTI Vice Chairman Qureshi in a case pertaining to last year’s May 9 violence. Judicial Magistrate Sohaib Bilal Ranjha announced the verdict after reserving it following the completion of arguments from both the prosecution and defence. The case was registered at the federal capital’s Khanna police station against PTI leaders Qureshi, Ali Nawaz Awan, and Raja Khurram Shahzad in connection with last year’s May 9 riots triggered by the first time party founding chairman Imran Khan was arrested from the premises of the IHC. Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on June 3 acquitted the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan and PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the Cipher case. The court suspended their 10-year sentence as it heard the appeals by the incarcerated ex-PM Imran and former foreign minister Qureshi. Chief Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the verdict.