An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad on Saturday ordered former Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regional president Khalid Khurshid Khan to be sent to jail on judicial remand in connection with the November 26 protest case.
The proceedings were conducted by ATC Judge Abul Hasanat Muhammad Zulqarnain, after police formally recorded Khurshid’s arrest in the case registered at Islamabad’s Aabpara Police Station.
During the hearing, investigators requested 30 days of physical remand to question the former chief minister. However, the court declined the request and directed authorities to transfer him to jail on judicial remand.
According to PTI’s official social media account, Khurshid was detained on October 11 from the Speaker House in Peshawar, along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and several other individuals.
Following the reported detention, Khurshid’s son, Hanifullah, approached the Peshawar High Court, seeking his father’s recovery and an order to preserve CCTV recordings from the Speaker House.
The petition named the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa inspector general of police, the capital city police officer and other relevant authorities as respondents.
Hanifullah alleged that unidentified individuals had taken his father from the premises at approximately 2am. He also claimed that police had been unwilling to register a case concerning the incident.
Khurshid has previously faced legal proceedings in Gilgit-Baltistan.
In December 2024, an anti-terrorism court in the region sentenced him to 34 years in prison and imposed a Rs600,000 fine in a case involving allegations that he had threatened security institutions during a public gathering.
The former chief minister began his tenure in Gilgit-Baltistan’s government after winning a seat in the 2020 Legislative Assembly elections from Astore district on a PTI ticket.
He subsequently became chief minister but was removed from office following a ruling by the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court in July 2023.
The court disqualified him over allegations that he had secured a licence from the Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Council using a fraudulent educational degree.
The disqualification ended his tenure as chief minister and led to changes in the region’s political leadership.
In the latest Islamabad proceedings, the ATC’s decision means Khurshid will remain in judicial custody rather than being handed over to police for the requested period of physical remand.