GUJRAT: A local court of area magistrate has withdrawn the arrest warrants and proclamation of senior PTI leader and former federal minister Chaudhry Moonis Elahi in a murder case.

In his detailed judgement issued on Wednesday, Mungowal Area Magistrate Saifullah Tarrar ordered the withdrawal of arrest warrants of Mr Elahi issued on Sept 14, 2023, as well as the proclamation orders issued on Sept 19, 2023.

Earlier, the trial court of Gujrat Additional District and Sessions Judge Mian Javed Akram Baitu had consigned the murder case to the record room on Dec 10, 2024, after the court acquitted an accused, Shabraiz Ahmed, whereas the main accused, Shahbaz Ahmed alias Akhtar, had died in Gujrat jail on Nov 8, 2023.

Qaisara Elahi, the mother of Moonis, had then filed an application with the court of the same judge seeking withdrawal of her son’s arrest warrants as well as proclamation, however, the court turned down the application.

The petitioner then filed another application with the Gujrat district and sessions judge with the same appeal and the case was remanded to the court of Mungowal area magistrate to decide it.

The court of area magistrate heard her application through lawyer Aamir Saeed Rawn as she had chellanged the issuance of arrest warrants and proclamation of her son in an already registered murder case alleging the police action was a mala fide intention to implicate her son who had already left the country in December 2022 much before the occurrence of the case.

Moonis was nominated in a double murder case on July 25, 2023, almost a month after the case number 149/23 was lodged with Mungowal police station on June 29, 2023, under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code against suspects Shahbaz Ahmad and Shabraiz Ahmad whereas Mr Elahi was later nominated under Section 109 of PPC by the police on the basis of investigation from main suspect Shahbaz.

Complainant Muhammad Akram, the brother of deceased Yousaf, had also recorded his statement before the court of additional district and sessions judge saying Moonis was implicated in the case with a malicious intent.It is pertinent to mention that the area magistrate has also ordered the Mungowal station house officer to enter the court order (Robkar) in the relevant record of the case.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2025