GILGIT: A Senior Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate of Gilgit on Wednesday ordered the arrest of former chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan Khalid Khurshid following his failure to appear in court in connection with a fake degree case.
The court has directed the City Police Station’s House Officer to execute the warrant and arrest the accused and his guarantors.
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.
The court order, issued by the civil magistrate, states that Khalid Khurshid had been granted bail earlier, with Wazir Shah Alam and Nabi Ullah standing as sureties. They provided surety bonds of Rs. 300,000 each, ensuring the accused’s compliance with the bail conditions, including attending court when required. According to the verdict, on August 19, 2024, the court issued a notice under section 514 Cr.P.C., summoning the sureties to explain why their surety amount should not be forfeited due to the accused’s non-compliance with the bail conditions.
The court noted that despite the notice and the opportunity provided, the accused failed to appear in court, and the explanations given by the sureties were deemed unsatisfactory.
Consequently, the court ordered the forfeiture of the surety amount of Rs300,000 each and directed that both the sureties and the accused be committed to prison for a period of six months. The court further stated that the sureties would be released if they deposited the forfeited amount. The court issued non-bailable warrants for Khalid Khurshid and adjourned the hearing of the case until September 10, 2024.
Khalid Khurshid, who is also the president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Gilgit-Baltistan chapter, has been embroiled 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.
Reacting to the verdict, former spokesperson for the chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, Ali Taj, raised concerns over what he described as a double standard in the application of justice. He pointed out that while Khalid Khurshid has consistently attended court hearings in connection with multiple cases, there are now orders for his arrest.
“In contrast, those responsible for setting fire to government property and the national flag in broad daylight in Gilgit have not faced any legal action. This disparity in the enforcement of law has caused significant concern among the people of Gilgit-Baltistan,” he said.