A district and sessions court in Islamabad has declared former prime minister Imran Khan’s adviser on interior and accountability, Shahzad Akbar, a proclaimed offender after he repeatedly failed to appear before the court in a case involving alleged controversial statements made on social media.
In its written order, the court also directed the issuance of an arrest warrant for Akbar. The challan for the case has been submitted, according to officials.
The case was registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in July 2025. Akbar, who has been living in the United Kingdom since April 2022, has not returned to Pakistan despite multiple summons.
The court order comes a day after Pakistan formally began the process of seeking Akbar’s extradition from the UK. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi shared the relevant documents with British High Commissioner Jane Marriott and said that while Pakistan supports freedom of expression, no country can allow defamatory actions against the state and its institutions from abroad.
Last month, the Pakistan High Commission in London declined to renew Akbar’s passport, noting that it had been blocked by authorities in Islamabad.
Akbar, a barrister by profession, previously headed the government’s Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) and played a central role in the PTI government’s accountability drive. He left Pakistan shortly after Imran Khan’s government was ousted in April 2022. Though his name had been placed on the Exit Control List, he managed to leave the country after the Islamabad High Court ordered the travel ban removed.
Before joining Khan’s team, Akbar served as a special prosecutor for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from 2004 to 2008, working on high-profile corruption cases involving Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari, and Shehbaz Sharif, who is now the prime minister.
