ISLAMABAD: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for more than 40 PTI leaders over their absence in the case concerning the May 9 protest outside the GHQ.

The case was heard by Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Amjad Ali Shah. During the proceedings, defence lawyers sought the court’s permission to meet Mr Khan at Adiala Jail, stating that access was necessary to obtain instructions regarding the pending cases.

Defence counsel told the court that they had alre­ady taken instructions from the PTI founder in connection with the cases, reiterating that effective legal represen­tation requi­red direct consultation with their client.

Opposing the request, the special prosecutor submitted that Mr Khan was on bail in the May 9 GHQ attack case and was not in the custody of the ATC. He further informed the court that the PTI founder had since been convicted in ano­t­h­er case, adding that the defence could appro­ach the relevant forum if it had any grievance regarding access.

The prosecutor mainta­ined that, as a convicted pri­s­oner, the PTI founder was in the custody of the jail sup­e­r­intendent and that, under the law, jail aut­hori­ties had the power to regulate meetings. He argued that the issue rai­s­ed by the defence did not fall within the jurisdiction of the ATC hearing the GHQ attack case.

In response, the defence counsel adopted a firm position, stating that until they were granted access to the PTI founder, they would not be a part of the court proceedings. During the hearing, the court also took notice of the absence of several accused and issued non-bailable arrest warrants for 40 to 45 accused who failed to appear.

Trial via video link

The court provided defence lawyers with a copy of the Punjab government’s notification regarding the conduct of the trial through a video link. According to the notification issued on October 30 last year, proceedings in the May 9 GHQ attack case are to be conducted via video link.

Later, the court adjourned the hearing until January 20.

Separately, the hearing of the Judicial Complex attack case against the PTI founder and other accused in the Anti-Terrorism Court, Islamabad, was adjourned without proceedings due to the unavailability of Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra. The court fixed the next date of hearing for February 6.

Similarly, the hearing of another case registered at the Secretariat Police Station was also adjourned without proceedings owing to the judge’s absence. As a result, statements of witnesses could not be recorded, and the next hearing was fixed for January 12.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2026