LHC quashes Gullu Butt ATA sentence

LAHORE

A Lahore High Court division bench on Thursday quashed sentence of Gullu Butt, an infamous character of Model Town incident, awarded under anti-terrorism law while upheld his conviction under provisions of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

An anti-terrorism court had in October 2014, awarded a collective sentence of 11-year-three-month to Shahid Aziz alias Gullu Butt under five sections of laws.

The maximum punishment the court awarded Butt was five-year jail term under section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. He was slapped three months under section 186 of PPC, two years under section 353 of PPC, two years under section 427 of PPC and two years under section 506 of PPC.

As the punishment was to run concurrently, Butt was due to come out of jail after undergoing five-year sentence, the maximum punishment.

Now he would be out any time since the high court set aside the five-year term awarded under the section 7 ATA while he has completed his maximum imprisonment of two years under the PPC. Gullu Butt was accused of smashing private vehicles with a club outside Minhaj-ul-Quran Secretariat in Model Town. On June 17, 2014, the city police was engaged with aggressive supporters of Dr Tahirul Qadri when Butt appeared on the scene with a long club in his hand and started shattering private vehicles.

The act of vandalism was filmed by cameramen of almost all news channels who were already present on the spot to cover a clash between the police and the workers of Pakistan Awami Tehreek following an ‘anti-encroachment’ operation outside the residence of Dr Qadri. Police personnel had not stopped Butt from carrying out his smashing spree rather they were witnessed facilitating him.