A special court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for model Ayyan Ali on Monday and directed authorities concerned to produce her before the court on November 10 in connection with the currency smuggling case. The suspect has appointed a new counsel replacing Pakistan People’s Party Leader Sardar Latif Khan Khosa with Advocate Sarfaraz Matthew. Advocate Sarfaraz Matthew presented his credentials to the court in the proceedings. Ayyan Ali’s new counsel also requested abstention for his client on medical grounds, which was rejected by the court. Customs Prosecutor Amin Feroz said the suspect has avoided 33 hearings in the last year and a half and medical certificate produced today is also a lie. He prayed the court to initiate legal action by declaring her an absconder. Ayyan’s counsel assured the court that the suspect will appear before it on the next hearing, fixed for November 10. The case was lodged on March 14, 2015 after Ayyan was arrested at the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Airport while boarding a flight to the United Arab Emirates carrying $506,800 without the permission of the State Bank of Pakistan. She was later sent to jail and the government put her name on the Exit Control List (ECL). But the model subsequently left for Dubai after she was released on bail and a court ordered the removal of her name from the ECL. Published in Daily Times, October 23rd 2018.