Former GB CM Khalid Khurshid Receives 34-Year Sentence

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court (ATC) has sentenced former Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Chief Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Khalid Khurshid to 34 years in prison on charges of threatening security agencies.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 600,000 on Khurshid and ordered the inspector general of police to arrest him and transfer him to jail to serve his sentence.

As part of the ruling, the court instructed the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to block Khurshid’s computerized national identity card (CNIC), further complicating his legal situation.

The charges against Khurshid stem from an incident on May 26, 2024, during a PTI rally, where he allegedly threatened the GB chief secretary, the chief election commissioner, and security agencies.

An FIR was filed against him at the City Police Station in Gilgit under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), with accusations that he had made threats to the officials.

Despite the charges, Khurshid failed to appear for court proceedings and remained a fugitive.

Khurshid served as the Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan from 2020 until his disqualification in July 2023, following a ruling by the GB Chief Court. He was disqualified for submitting a fake degree during his nomination process. The degree, allegedly from the University of London, was later confirmed as fake by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

Khurshid, who joined PTI in 2018, rose to the position of divisional president of Diamer-Astore and has faced multiple legal challenges, including charges related to PTI’s protests at D-Chowk in Islamabad in October.

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