LAHORE, Dec 27: Suspending the verdict of the anti-terrorism court No. 2 of Rawalpindi, a division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday ordered that the charges of terrorism against Rashid Rauf, a Pakistani-born UK national and the principal accused in an alleged plot of blowing up trans-Atlantic airlines, would be tried by a court set up under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The Rawalpindi ATC had, on December 13, dropped against Rashid the main allegation that he was carrying a liquid which was used in the manufacture of explosives and terrorist attacks later. The ATC ordered that the case against the accused would be heard by an ordinary court of competent jurisdiction.
Later, a judicial magistrate of Rawalpindi remanded the accused in judicial custody.
Comprising Justice Tariq Shamim and Justice Hasnat Ahmad Khan, the LHC bench directed the state that the allegation against Rashid and others be judicially examined by an ATC because the charges against him fell in the offences scheduled for courts established under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The division bench also issued notices to the accused for January 15.
The LHC suspended the orders of the Rawalpindi ATC in the hearing of an appeal submitted by the Punjab prosecutor-general who stated that the court had ignored the charges and their sensitivity and also took a wrong perception of the ATA’s schedule of offences.
The allegation, according to the appellant, could be tried by none other than the anti-terrorism courts and the remand of the case to a judicial magistrate was a miscalculated decision because an ordinary court was not competent to try charges of terrorism.
