GILGIT: A local court in Gilgit has issued an arrest warrant for Muhammad Khalid Khurshid Khan, the region’s former chief minister, for his continued absence in the fake degree case.
Khalid Khurshid is facing charges under sections 419, 420, 465, 468, and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for submitting a fake law degree from the University of London to obtain a lawyer’s licence from the Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Council and in his nomination papers for contesting the 2020 elections.
He is also accused of submitting a false affidavit to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Islamabad to obtain an equivalency certificate.
Khalid Khurshid, who is also the president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Gilgit-Baltistan chapter, has been involved in controversy since July 2023 when the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court disqualified him over the fake degree issue.
A three-member bench of the court disqualified him following a petition filed by GB Assembly member Shahzad Agha. The disqualification led to his booking in a fraud case.
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On December 31, An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Gilgit sentenced Khalid Khurshid to a total of 34 years in prison for delivering provocative speeches against state institutions and inciting public unrest.
Khalid Khursheed was convicted under Section 153-A PPC and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs50,000; under Section 505 PPC, he received seven years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs50,000; under Section 506(II) PPC, he was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs100,000.
Similarly, under Section 7(h) ATA, he received five years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs100,000, and under Section 21-L ATA, he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs300,000.
The court clarified that the sentences would run concurrently, with the longest sentence being 10 years.
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