Daily Times

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday sentenced former Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Chief Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Khalid Khurshid to 34 years in prison on charges of threatening security agencies.

In addition to the lengthy sentence, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 600,000 on the politician. The ATC further directed the inspector general of police to arrest Khurshid and transfer him to jail for the duration of his sentence. As part of the ruling, the court ordered the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to block Khurshid’s computerized national identity card (CNIC), further complicating his legal situation.

The charges against Khurshid stem from an incident on May 26, 2024, during a PTI power show, where he allegedly issued threats against GB’s chief secretary, the chief election commissioner, and security agencies.

An FIR was lodged against him at the City Police Station in Gilgit under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), with allegations that he had threatened the officials with serious consequences.

However, despite the charges, Khurshid remained a fugitive and failed to appear for court proceedings. Khurshid had served as the Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan from 2020 until his disqualification in July 2023. His removal from office followed a ruling by the GB Chief Court, which disqualified him for submitting a fake degree during his nomination process.

The degree, purportedly from the University of London, was later verified as fake by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) after a formal inquiry.

Khurshid, who joined PTI in 2018, had risen to the position of divisional president of Diamer-Astore. His involvement with PTI has also led to his booking in multiple cases, including charges related to the party’s protests at D-Chowk in Islamabad in October.