An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Monday dismissed a petition filed by Aleema Khan challenging the framing of charges against her in a case related to the November 26 protest.<\/p>\n
The case was heard by ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah. Aleema Khan appeared before the court along with her counsel, Faisal Malik, and argued that the indictment was not framed in her presence, which, according to the defence, violated legal requirements.<\/p>\n
Her lawyer contended that under the law, the accused must be present at the time of framing of charges and that the charge sheet must bear the accused\u2019s signatures. He told the court that Aleema Khan and her defence team came to know about the indictment through media reports, not through formal court proceedings.<\/p>\n
Opposing the plea, Prosecutor Zaheer Shah informed the court that charges had been framed on October 15 and questioned why the defence waited nearly two months to challenge the process. He argued that the petition was an attempt to delay the trial and obstruct judicial proceedings.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor further stated that Aleema Khan and her counsel were deliberately using delaying tactics, despite the court having granted repeated opportunities. He maintained that no accused had challenged the indictment during the past two months and that the charges were framed strictly in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court rejected Aleema Khan\u2019s application, declaring the indictment lawful and valid.<\/p>\n
The court also recalled its previous orders issued during the last hearing related to Aleema Khan\u2019s late arrival and accepted her attendance for that day. At an earlier hearing, the court had forfeited her surety bonds and issued a contempt of court notice over her delayed appearance.<\/p>\n
The trial in the November 26 protest case will now proceed as scheduled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Monday dismissed a petition filed by Aleema Khan challenging the framing of charges against her in a case related to the November 26 protest. The case was heard by ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah. Aleema Khan appeared before the court along with her counsel, Faisal Malik, and argued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":63120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,16],"tags":[103],"ppma_author":[213],"class_list":{"0":"post-69631","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest","8":"category-pakistan","9":"tag-top-stories"},"yoast_head":"\n