A customs court in Rawalpindi on Friday reserved its verdict on three appeals filed by model Ayyan Ali accused of currency smuggling.
During the hearing, the prosecutor requested the court to declare the fashion model as an absconder due to her “intentional” absence from court proceedings.
“The accused has been missing hearings for the last two years,” he said as he asked Judge Irshad Hussain Bhutta to initiate proceedings against Ayyan’s bail.
The defence counsel countered and said Ayyan would appear for the hearing if the court de-notifies arrest warrants issued in her name.
The counsels wrapped up arguments in three appeals filed by Ayyan’s lawyer seeking retraction of the arrest warrants, forgiving her for non-appearance and for having two trials in the same case.
Reserving the verdict, the judge said the decision will be announced on January 23.
In March 2015, the model was arrested by Airport Security Force (ASF) from Rawalpindi’s old Benazir International Airport. She was carrying $506,800 in currency that she was allegedly trying to smuggle to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
After four months in Adiala Jail, Ayyan was granted bail in July 2016.
A non-bailable arrest warrant was issued for Ayyan on October 22 and directed the concerned authorities to produce her before the court on November 10 with regards to the currency smuggling case. The court rejected her abstention request on medical grounds and said that the accused avoided 33 hearings in the last year and a half and medical certificate produced is also a lie.
Published in Daily Times, January 19th 2019.
