ISLAMABAD: Addi­tio­nal Dis­trict and Sessions Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra on Friday deferred the indictment of Shahbaz Shabbir Gill — the former chief of staff officer of PTI chairman Imran Khan — in a case pertaining to a TV interview during which the suspect allegedly attempted to incite mutiny in the armed forces.

Represented through senior counsel Burhan Moazzam, the applicant said the court should not frame charges of mutiny against his client.

He argued that earlier a sessions court had held that though 12 offences had been added during the investigation of the case, the relevant offence which prima facie attracted against him was Section 131 of Pakistan Penal Code that dealt with abetting mutiny or attempting to seduce a soldier from his duty.

Therefore, he added, the court should decide the fresh application first before framing the charges against the suspect.

Due to his illness, Shahbaz Gill was present in a vehicle outside the court, while in addition to co-accused ARY News Director Ammad Yousaf, the hearing was also attended by the president of a faction of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Afzal Butt.

Talking to Dawn, the defence counsel said the Islamabad High Court had held that the charge against the suspect did not constitute the offence of mutiny. The application highlighted that the court should not frame charges, as the allegation levelled against him did not fall within the definition of the offence of the mutiny.

While granting post-arrest bail to Shahbaz Gill on Sept 16, last year, the IHC had held Gill’s statements indeed were reckless and reflected a lack of appreciation of the scheme of the constitution, but no incriminating material could be gathered to indicate that before or after making the statements, he had contacted any officer or other members of the armed forces with the intent to abet or attempt to cause incitement.

The high court had also held that such reckless statements were not expected from a person, who claimed to be an academician and spokesman of a political party.

Nonetheless, the trial court was satisfied that except for the offence described under Section 131, the other offences mentioned in the FIR were, prima facie, not attracted, the high court held.

According to the IHC ruling, Section 131 explicitly provides that the offence is committed when a person abets the committing of mutiny by an officer, soldier, sailor or airman in the army, navy or air force of Pakistan or attempts to seduce any such officer, soldier, sailor or airman from his allegiance or his duty.

In view of these observations, the applicant urged the additional district and sessions judge not to frame the charge of mutiny. The counsel also requested the court to exempt him from personal appearance as his attendance in court proceedings could be marked through a video link.

The court, however, postponed the indictment for Feb 2 with a direction that the suspect should be present in person before the court at the next hearing.

The Islamabad magistrate, Ghulam Murtaza Chandiyo, had got an FIR registered against Gill on Aug 9, 2022 on the basis of his statements aired by ARY News on Aug 8.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2023