Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi faces a fresh legal challenge after the Peshawar High Court (PHC) rejected a petition against an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) order in the May 9 Radio Pakistan Peshawar attack case.
The high court upheld the ATC’s decision, allowing the nomination of Afridi and several other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders as accused in the case to remain intact.
Justice Sahibzada Asadullah issued the written judgment, which relates to the May 9, 2023 attack on the Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar, during which the premises were ransacked and property was damaged.
According to the proceedings, Afridi, former provincial ministers Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Kamran Bangash, PTI Peshawar district president Irfan Saleem and party activist Amir Khan Chamkani were nominated as accused after forensic and identity verification by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
The forensic examination included an analysis of video footage. The PFSA examined 16 videos frame by frame, while NADRA used its facial recognition system to compare individuals appearing in the footage with their identity records.
The provincial government had challenged an ATC order allowing a USB containing CCTV footage from the Radio Pakistan incident to be sent for forensic examination. It argued that the trial court lacked the authority to consider or examine new material after proceedings had already begun.
The PHC rejected the argument, holding that the ATC was empowered to examine material relevant to ensuring a fair trial and could order its forensic examination.
The high court observed that the ATC had neither ordered the police to reopen the investigation nor directed the registration of a new FIR or submission of a fresh challan. Rather, it had ordered the forensic examination of an electronic device within its jurisdiction.
The PHC therefore dismissed the provincial government’s petition and directed the ATC to continue the trial. The CCTV footage and forensic report will be considered and decided on their merits during the proceedings.
The ruling keeps Sohail Afridi’s nomination in the May 9 case intact and leaves the legal proceedings against him and the other accused to continue before the ATC.