A Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Thursday withdrew arrest warrants previously issued for Aleema Khan, the sister of PTI founder and former premier Imran Khan, in the November 26 protest case.

ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah withdrew the warrants after Aleema appeared before the court and submitted a compliance report. The court directed her to furnish fresh surety bonds worth Rs1 million each, following which the warrants were cancelled.

The case pertains to a protest staged by the PTI in November last year and the court has issued arrest warrants for Aleema multiple times over her repeated absence. Aleema has denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that the charges are politically motivated.

At a previous hearing, the judge had also directed the relevant authorities to block Aleema’s national identity card (CNIC) and passport, and freeze her bank accounts.

During today’s hearing, Aleema moved an application seeking a reversal of the freeze on her bank accounts, including joint accounts associated with the National University of Modern Languages.

She argued that the freezing orders had caused her undue hardship and were issued without proper legal justification.

In response, Judge Shah issued notices to the prosecution, seeking their response on the application. The court is expected to examine whether the freezing orders were warranted and whether there was a sufficient legal basis to maintain them.

Subsequently, the judge adjourned the hearing until November 26, directing the prosecution to submit its reply before then.

The case

The case pertains to allegations brought under various sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) in connection with protests and unrest linked to last year’s November 26 protest.

The protest saw more than 10,000 PTI protesters surge into Islamabad, defying a ban on public gatherings and a lockdown to skirmish with 20,000 security forces enlisted to turn them back.

A day of clashes between security forces and protesters in the city’s Red Zone ended in the PTI leadership’s hasty retreat, with the party announcing that it was calling off its planned protest sit-in “for the time being”.

Subsequently, cases were registered against several PTI leaders under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the ATA. Two of these cases were registered at the Taxila police station and one each at the Sadiqabad and Naseerabad police stations.

Aleema, along with 10 others, was booked in the case registered at the Sadiqabad police station.