- Five-member bench led by Justice Aminuddin Khan to take up PTI leaders’ pleas seeking restoration of status
- PHC earlier dismissed appeals for non-surrender after conviction in cases linked to May 9 violence
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has fixed for hearing the appeals filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz challenging their disqualification following convictions in the May 9 riots cases.
A five-member constitutional bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, will take up the matter on October 27. The bench also includes Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Shakeel Ahmed.
The two senior PTI leaders had approached the apex court after the Peshawar High Court (PHC) dismissed their appeals as inadmissible, ruling that they had not surrendered to the authorities following their convictions.
On July 31, 2025, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Faisalabad sentenced several PTI leaders—including Omar Ayub, Zartaj Gul, and Shibli Faraz—to 10 years in prison over their alleged involvement in the May 9 violent protests. The verdict, delivered in cases registered at Ghulam Muhammadabad and Civil Lines police stations (Case No. 1277 and 832), convicted 108 individuals while 77 others were acquitted.
According to case records, several prominent PTI figures were also acquitted, including Fawad Chaudhry, Zain Qureshi, and Khayal Kastro. However, PTI MPA Junaid Afzal Sahi received a three-year sentence, while Sheikh Rashid Shafiq (nephew of Sheikh Rashid) and SIC head Sahibzada Hamid Raza were among those handed 10-year jail terms.
Other PTI leaders convicted in the cases include Rai Hassan Nawaz, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, Chaudhry Bilal Ijaz, Mrs. Farrukh Agha, Farkhunda Kokab, Kanwal Shauzab, Mohammad Ahmad Chattha, Chaudhry Asif Ali, Shakeel Ahmad Khan Niazi, Sardar Azimullah Khan, Mehr Muhammad Javed, and Muhammad Ansar Iqbal.
In the Ghulam Muhammadabad case, 60 out of 67 accused were convicted, while in the Civil Lines case, seven were acquitted.
On August 6, 2025, the three convicted PTI leaders approached the Peshawar High Court, contesting their convictions and subsequent disqualifications by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Both Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz argued that the ECP unlawfully removed them from their parliamentary seats without granting them an opportunity to be heard.
Shibli Faraz, a sitting PTI senator, lost his Senate seat following his conviction, while Omar Ayub was similarly de-notified from the National Assembly. In their joint plea, they urged the Supreme Court to declare the ECP’s decision unconstitutional and void and to restore their parliamentary memberships pending appeal.
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