ISLAMABAD: In a significant development that clears Prime Minister She­hbaz Sharif, four federal ministers and some top sec­urity officials of all charges, an additional sessions court on Wednesday dismissed a private criminal complaint filed by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan over the alleged violent crackdown on the Nov 26, 2024, protest.

Additional Sessions Jud­ge Muhammad Afzal Maj­o­ka dismissed the compla­int at the outset of the proceedings, ruling that the PTI had failed to provide any tangible evidence, a calendar of witnesses, or medical and forensic reports to support its allegations of mass murder and excessive use of force.

The complaint, filed aga­inst Prime Minister Sheh­baz, Interior Minister Moh­sin Naqvi, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, and senior officials, including the Islamabad police chief, alleged a high-level conspiracy to violently suppress the PTI’s “final protest” in the capital. It clai­med that law enforcement used lethal force at the beh­est of the political leadership to clear Blue Area and Jinnah Avenue on Nov 26, 2024.

The PTI alleged that 12 workers were killed and hundreds were injured or went missing during the crackdown, which allegedly involved sniper fire and the use of tear gas during a power outage.

The complaint also alleged that a container carr­ying the then Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, Ali Amin Gandapur, and former first lady Bushra Bibi came under fire and was later set ablaze.

Procedural requirements

The court dismissed the complaint due to the PTI’s persistent failure to comply with procedural requirements, even after 19 months had passed since the alleged incident.

Judge Majoka noted that despite multiple opportunities, the complainant, Barrister Goh­ar, had failed to record his statement on oath, which is a mandatory first step under Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Citing legal precedents, the judge observed that a complaint could not proceed unless the complainant established a prima facie case.

The court also strongly criticised the PTI for failing to submit a calendar of witnesses.

The complaint stated that high-profile figures, including Mr Gandapur, PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub, and Bushra Bibi, were eyewitnesses, yet none of them appeared before the court to support the allegations.

Similarly, neither the 38 allegedly injured workers nor the legal heirs of the 12 deceased persons were produced before the court.

The court observed that the complaint lacked the most crucial evidence: post-mortem reports of the 12 named deceased and medico-legal reports relating to the injured.

The judge also rejected a photocopy of an “unknown person’s” death certificate dated Dec 24, 2024 — a month after the alleged incident — as irrelevant.

“If 12 people had died due to violence, the complainant or others could have moved an application for disinterment [exhumation] of their dead bodies… to determine the cause of death,” the judge noted.

Relying on the Supreme Court’s judgement in Muhammad Rajar vs The State, the court held that a private complaint could not be used to level “frivolous accusations” without substantive forensic evidence.

The ruling effectively acquits PM Shehbaz, Mr Naqvi, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Islamabad police chief Ali Nasir Rizvi, and others of all charges.

The court noted that there was “no material on this private complaint to issue process under Sec­tion 204 CrPC”, meaning the respondents — including the prime minister, key cabinet ministers, and senior police officials — were not required to enter a defence or even appear before the court, as the com­plaint was dismissed at the pre-summoning stage.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2026