ISLAMABAD: A special custom, excise and sales tax court on Wednesday rejected Ayyan Ali’s plea to cancel arrest warrants issued for her due to her consecutive absences in the currency smuggling case.

On June 6, the court issued bailable arrest warrants for Ms Ali. Since the custom court’s judge was on leave, a duty judge heard the case, while Ms Ali was represented by Sardar Latif Khan Khosa.

Mr Khosa adopted before the court that his client was abroad and therefore could not attend the court proceedings, and asked the court to withdraw the warrant for her arrest.

The court rejected the request and adjourned the hearing until July 29.

Mr Khosa said Ms Ali has challenged the trial proceedings before the Lahore High Court (LHC), where the matter is pending adjudication.

Ms Ali was indicted in November 2015 for allegedly attempting to smuggle more than half a million dollars in cash out of the country, to which she has pleaded not guilty.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2017