A special customs court in Rawalpindi on Saturday issued non-bailable arrest warrants against model Ayyan Ali, who has been absconding from trial in a currency smuggling case after fleeing abroad under false pretenses.

The court ordered custom officials to arrest the accused and present her in court by Oct 22.

Customs prosecutor Amin Feroz noted that Ayyan Ali had not turned up in court since December 8, 2015.

During the hearing on Saturday, presided over by Customs Court Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta, the accused model's lawyer, Sardar Latif Khosa, was not present in court. Instead, a junior lawyer, Syed Iqbal Hussain, was sent in his stead.

The junior lawyer said that Ayyan is unwell because of which she could not be present in court, and requested that she be granted temporary leave of absence. However, the court was incensed by the continuing excuses.

The court asked the lawyer whether he had any new medical certificates to show for his client, warning that exemptions on attendance could not be granted at every hearing to Ayyan on the basis of old medical reports.

The customs prosecutor opposed giving the model any exemptions on appearing before the court and noted that new excuses are made regarding her presence in every hearing.

Feroz requested that the court issue non-bailable arrest warrants for the suspect instead.

The customs prosecutor had also requested the court to issue non-bailable arrest warrants for the model in September, but the court had decided to issue bailable arrest warrants.

This time, the court accepted the customs prosecutor's request and ordered the issuance of warrants against Ali.

Ayyan had been arrested by the Airport Security Force in March 2015 from Rawalpindi's old Benazir International Airport. She was carrying $506,800 in currency that she was allegedly trying to smuggle to the 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.