Nov 26 protests case: Arrest warrants issued for 50 PTI leaders including Alvi, Gandapur

Islamabad (Web Desk): An anti-terrorism court has issued arrest warrants for former President Dr. Arif Alvi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, and several other senior members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in relation to a protest that took place in Islamabad on November 26, 2023. These warrants, issued under FIR No. 1193 registered at the Karachi Company police station, are part of a broader legal action targeting top PTI leadership.

During proceedings on Thursday, ATC Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain authorized 41 new arrest warrants, adding to nine previously issued, bringing the total to 50.

The individuals named are accused of instigating and taking part in violent demonstrations that disrupted public order in the capital. The court, citing repeated absences from scheduled hearings, instructed law enforcement to apprehend and present all the accused before the bench without further delay.

Among the prominent figures included in the list are Shibli Faraz, who previously served as an advisor to the Prime Minister, Senators Azam Swati and Faisal Javed, PTI’s central spokesperson Rauf Hassan, senior lawyers Salman Akram Raja and Shoaib Shaheen, and ex-parliamentarians such as Asad Qaiser, Atif Khan, Aleema Khan, Murad Saeed, and Sheikh Waqas Akram.

The move comes amid an expanding series of legal cases tied to the political unrest in late November last year. In total, 32 First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed across the Rawalpindi Division in connection with those demonstrations, including a case in Taxila involving the fatality of a police constable. 
Former first lady Bushra Bibi has also been implicated in that particular investigation.