An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday sentenced former Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Khalid Khurshid to 34 years in prison for issuing threats to security agencies.
In addition to the prison term, the court imposed a fine of Rs600,000 and directed the inspector general of police to arrest the former chief minister and transfer him to jail. The court also instructed the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) director general to block Khalid Khurshid’s computerized national identity card (CNIC).
The charges stemmed from a speech delivered at a PTI rally on May 26, 2024, where Khurshid allegedly threatened security agencies, Gilgit-Baltistan’s chief secretary, and the chief election commissioner with severe consequences. Following this, a first information report (FIR) was registered against him at GB’s City Police Station under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
Khurshid was declared an absconder and did not participate in the court proceedings.
Elected as chief minister in 2020, Khurshid faced disqualification in July 2023 by GB’s Chief Court for submitting a fake degree from the University of London in his nomination papers. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) sought official verification from the university, which confirmed the degree was fake.
Having joined PTI in 2018, Khurshid served as the divisional president of Diamer-Astore. He was recently booked in multiple cases related to PTI’s October protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk.
