A special court on custom, excise and taxation on Saturday issued bailable arrest warrants against model Ayyan Ali — who is facing trial in a currency smuggling case — due to her absence from court since 2015.
The case was presided over by Arshad Hussain Bhutta, who observed in annoyance that the suspect was once again a no-show for the hearing.
Ayyan Ali was represented by Syed Iqbal Hussain, a junior lawyer associated with the chamber of former Punjab governor Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, who submitted before the court that she was unable to appear "due to illness" and requested that she be granted temporary absence.
The court rejected the application filed by the defence lawyer.
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Customs Prosecutor Amin Feroz highlighted the fact that the model has been absent since December 8, 2015, and that this practice has been going on for the past 25 hearings.
The prosecutor requested the court to issue non-bailable arrest warrants for the model but the court decided to issue bailable arrest warrants once more against her, as issued in June last year.
The court warned her counsel that if she does not appear for her next hearing, non-bailable arrest warrants will be issued against her. The case was adjourned till October 6.
Ayyan Ali was arrested by the Airport Security Force in March 2015 at Benazir International Airport along with $506,800 she was allegedly trying to smuggle to United Arab Emirates (UAE).
She was granted bail in July 2016 after spending around four months in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail — and after her judicial remand was extended at least 16 times.
