Ex-GB CM Khalid Khurshid awarded 34-year jail

An anti-terrorism court in Gilgit-Baltistan on Tuesday awarded 34-year jail sentence to former chief minister Khalid Khurshid Khan for threatening security personnel and institutions.

In July 2023, Khalid Khurshid, who is also PTI’s regional president, was disqualified by the GB Chief Court for allegedly obtaining a licence from the GB Bar Council based on a fake degree.

A month later, police registered a case against him for allegedly possessing a fake law degree. In September this year, the Peshawar High Court granted him protective bail in cases registered across different parts of the country.

On Tuesday, Judge Rehmat Shah of the GB ATC sentenced Khurshid to 34 years in prison and fined him Rs600,000 for threatening security personnel and institutions, including the chief secretary and chief election commissioner, during a party rally on July 26 at Ittehad Chowk, Gilgit.

The case against Khurshid was registered at the Gilgit City Police Station under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The former chief minister had failed to appear in any hearing despite repeated court notices. Khurshid was also given a defence lawyer who argued his cases.

Judge Shah also ordered the GB inspector general of police to arrest Khurshid and send him to jail, and ordered the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) director general to block his national identity card.