LAHORE: Fashion designer Khadija Shah has approached the Lahore High Court (LHC), challenging her conviction in a May 9 case.
She claims to have been falsely implicated for political reasons.
Through her Advocate Sameer Khosa, Ms Shah argues that she had no involvement in the torching of a Supreme Court judge’s squad vehicle near Jinnah House during the riots.
She maintained she was not named in the FIR, nor was she implicated through supplementary statements.
No identification parade was conducted to establish her presence at the scene.
The trial, held inside Kot Lakhpat jail, resulted in 21 acquittals out of 51 accused, with 12 declared proclaimed offenders. Ms Shah was among the 18 convicted, recently sentenced to five years in prison and fined Rs100,000.
The appeal highlights that the prosecution’s case relied solely on her social media activity post-May 9, 2023.
However, the trial court scrutinized her entire online data without legal basis, terming the charges “defective, vague, and unsustainable.
The appeal stresses that the judgement was “assumption-based” and lacked credible evidence linking Shah to the alleged offenses.
Her legal team urged the Lahore High Court to set aside the Sept 9 verdict of the anti-terrorism court and acquit her of all charges.
Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2025
