Citing PTI Chairman’s repeated failure to record statement, lack of supporting evidence
ISLANAABAD:
An Additional District and Sessions Court in Islamabad dismissed a private complaint filed by PTI against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, some key ministers and police officers over allegations of killing of party workers during the November 26, 2024 protest at Islamabad D-Chowk.
Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka dismissed the complaint after PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan repeatedly failed to record his statement under Section 200 of the CrPC.
In his 17-page order, the judge noted that the complaint was filed on December 14, 2024, but Gohar was not present on the filing date.
“On 16 hearing dates, the complainant’s cursory statement has not been recorded. On 13 hearing dates, adjournments for the recording of his cursory statement were requested on behalf of the complainant, which were granted,” the order said.
The court noted that under Section 200(2) CrPC, adjournments can be granted subject to payment of costs not less than Rs10,000. It noted that the court had shown leniency and did not impose costs despite the appellant’s repeated failure to record his statement or produce preliminary evidence.
The order said that at the previous hearing the complainant had been asked to record his statement, failing which “the law would take its own course.”
At the latest hearing, lawyer Sardar Khurram Latif Khan Khosa sought another adjournment, claiming that senior counsel Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosa was on general adjournment.
The judge noted that the lawyer was asked to produce an approved application showing that the senior counsel was on general suspension, but he failed to do so.
“No approved application for general adjournment of learned senior counsel has been filed in the court. There is no justification for further adjournment. The application for adjournment on behalf of the complainant is therefore rejected,” the ruling states.
The court said that despite several opportunities, the complainant had not made any statement before the court and therefore was only left to examine the content of the complaint and the material on record.
It noted that Gohar had nowhere claimed that he was an eyewitness to the alleged incident.
The order noted that in paragraph 7 of the complaint, Gohar claimed that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and several provincial ministers were eyewitnesses, but none of them appeared before the court to record a preliminary statement in support of the complaint.
The court further observed that the central allegation against the respondents was that they had ordered or carried out firing on PTI protesters.
Although the complaint mentioned the names of 38 injured, none of them were produced before the court to record a preliminary statement. Similarly, the order said no medico-legal reports were recorded to support the allegations regarding the injured.
The complaint also referred to 12 people who allegedly died during the incident, but the court noted that no postmortem report had been submitted.
The judge noted that in paragraph 13 of the complaint, the complainant had stated that he was pursuing postmortem reports, medico-legal reports and other evidence through the legal process and had undertaken to produce them before the court. However, the order noted that despite the passage of about 19 months, no such reports had been submitted.
The court noted that to substantiate such claims, it had to be established that the deaths occurred due to violence attributable to a specific individual. “Nothing has been recorded that twelve persons died due to unnatural death or violence,” the order said.
Emphasizing the importance of forensic and medico-legal evidence in criminal cases, the judge noted that forensic medicine plays a central role in the criminal justice system and forms part of the right to a fair trial guaranteed under Article 10-A of the Constitution.
It also noted that no death certificates or postmortem reports were attached with the complaint.
The court further noted that the complaint itself stated that former KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, former NA Leader of Opposition Omar Ayub and former First Lady Bushra Bibi were inside the bulletproof container that was allegedly attacked and later burnt.
According to the judge, these people were described by the complainant as eyewitnesses, but none appeared in court to record statements in support of the allegations. It also appeared from the order that no witness calendar had been filed with the complaint.
The court also considered the complainant’s claim that hospitals had refused to cooperate in handing over post-mortem reports and had handed over the bodies after obtaining written declarations from the legal heirs that the deceased had died in accidents.
The judge noted that even if this claim was accepted for the sake of argument, the legal heirs remained free to obtain post-mortem examinations from hospitals of their choice. It stated that even after the burial, an application could have been made for an exhumation to establish the actual cause of death.
“If twelve persons had died due to violence, the complainant or others could have moved an application for the deposition of their dead bodies to the learned Magistrate to determine the cause of death.”
It held that the complainant had failed to adduce any material sufficient to justify a continuation of the case. The notice noted that although photocopies of newspaper clippings in three volumes were attached, no video footage or USB containing evidence of the alleged incident had been submitted.
It also noted that the complaint did not identify the journalists or other individuals who had reported the alleged incident.
On 26 November 2024, LEAs cracked down on PTI protesters who had converged on Islamabad to pressure the PML-N government to release Imran Khan.
The PTI had later claimed that at least a dozen of its workers had died in a brutal state attack. The party later filed a complaint against Prime Minister Shehbazf, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Atta Tarar, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Islamabad IG Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi and others.
