Islamabad court indicts former KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur in audio leaks case

ISLAMABAD: After a long legal battle in the audio leak case against the PTI leader and former chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, the case finally took a new turn on Saturday as an additional district and sessions judge indicted him and his co-accused.

The hearing was conducted by Additional District and Sessions Judge Nasr Minallah Baloch. Gandapur, along with his lawyer, Advocate Raja Zahoorul Hassan, appeared in court, along with his co-accused, Asad Farooq Khan.

At the start of the hearing, the judge addressed the most important point that had been delaying the hearing. The court asked why the accused had not been coming before the law.

In response to the court’s question, Gandapur mentioned the serious security concerns and logistical issues that had caused him not to appear.

“Due to the security situation and road closures, I could not appear,” the former chief minister said, justifying that there was a prevailing situation like a curfew in some areas, which did not allow him to travel.

He also told the judge that his mobile phone had been confiscated during raids on his premises.

Judge Nasr, while noting the explanation, told the accused that discretion on matters of appearance is in the court’s hands.

He underlined that a conviction or punishment cannot be founded solely on the prosecution’s demand, and that the case had been pending for a considerable amount of time without a formal indictment being filed.

In a major development, the defence attorney stood up to ask for the formal cancellation of his client’s arrest warrants, as he pointed out that since the accused had already appeared, the court had the complete authority to annul them.

The judge accepted the request, suspending the arrest warrants against Gandapur. However, he issued a stern warning: “The warrants are cancelled, but in the future, you must be careful and make sure that your presence in court is guaranteed.”

The judge also explained that, in the event of such unavoidable circumstances recurring in the future, the appropriate legal procedure would be to file an application for exemption from personal appearance in advance.