In the latest development in the Dr Imran Farooq murder trial, one of the defendants has challenged the decision to hold the trial in Adiyala jail.

In a petition submitted in court by defendant Mozzam Ali's counsel, the court has been requested to discard orders to hear the case in Adiala jail, as there is no indication that the Anti-Terrorism Court had ordered such a measure.

The petitioner has also said that investigation into the case has turned up nothing to necessitate the need to conduct the case's proceedings in jail premises, asking instead that the trial be held in open court where the public has access to the proceedings.

The petitioner has additionally asked that charges pertaining to terrorism also be removed from the charge sheet.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq, aged 50, was on his way home from work on September 16, 2010 when he was murdered on Green Lane, Edgware outside his London home. A post-mortem examination had found that he died from multiple stab wounds and blunt trauma to the head.

Dr Farooq had claimed asylum in Britain in 1999. He was wanted in Pakistan on scores of charges, including torture and murder, but always claimed the accusations were politically motivated.

He had twice been elected as a lawmaker in Pakistan but went into hiding in 1992 when the government ordered a military crackdown against MQM activists in Karachi.

The FIA had registered a case against MQM chief Altaf Hussein and other party leaders on December 5, 2015 for their alleged involvement in the murder.

The FIA’s counter-terrorism wing had registered a case under the relevant clauses of the Anti-Terrorism Act and clauses pertaining to conspiracy, assistance, abatement and assassination/murder have also been incorporated in the FIR.