A Rawalpindi court acquitted on Friday actor Atiqa Odho after nine years in a liquor smuggling case.
On June 4, 2011, Odho was stopped at Benazir International Airport when two bottles of foreign liquor were found in her bag while she was checking in for PIA’s Karachi-bound flight PK-301. The liquor was confiscated and she was allowed to leavee.
Later, then chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry took suo motu notice of the incident and ordered the registration of a case against her.
The case, which had been pending for nine years, was decided by Magistrate Yasir Chaudhry.
An FIR was registered against Odho at the Airport police station on the complaint of the Customs superintendent.
Three days later, Odho acquired interim bail from the court of Rawalpindi Additional Sessions Judge Iqbal Chadhar.
She is famous for her role in Sitara aur Mehrunissa and then appeared in dramas like Dasht, Nijaat, Harjaee and most recently in Pyar Ke Sadqay. She later starred in a string of films, including Jo Darr Gya Woh Marr Gya, Mummy and Mujhe Chand Chahiye.
Atiqa Odho Professional :
Atiqa Odho ( born 12 February 1958 ) is a beauty queen Pakistani television and film actress, television host, and the namesake of her own founded cosmetics brand Odho cosmetics.
She was arrested in 2011 for exporting/ drinking alcohol, she was released on 21 August 2020 (because Pakistan is an Islamic Republic and Drinking/ selling or any other business related to alcohol is not allowed in Islam).
She debuted in Anwar Maqsood’s TV series. She is famous for, Sitara aur Mehrunissa and then appeared in dramas like Dasht, Nijaat, Harjaee and most recently in Humsafar. She later starred in a string of films, including Jo Darr Gya Woh Marr Gya, Mummy and Mujhe Chand Chahiye.
Atiqa Odho Career:
Born into a Sindhi family,the granddaughter of the sardar of Jacobabad, in 1958, she started her professional life as a make-up artist and hairstylist in 1989. While working as a make-up artist for various advertising agencies in Karachi,
she was discovered by television personality, Anwar Maqsood. She starred in his play, Sitara Aur Mehrunissa in 1993. In 1995, she made her film debut in Jo Darr Gya Woh Marr Gya. Her latest role is as Mansura in Pyar Ke Sadqey.
Atiqa Odho Social work:
Since 2016, she has also been engaged in philanthropic activities.She has been working for Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, Fatmeed Foundation, and as a social worker in “Hamara Mulk, Hamaray Log”.She is currently the CEO of Odho Cosmetics, and Odho Productions. She is also the ambassador for a campaign on awareness of breast cancer in Pakistan.
The court, in its verdict, said that there was no evidence against Odho. The verdict was announced by Rawalipindi’s judicial magistrate Yasir Chaudhry.
The case was remanded to the trial court in 2018 by the Supreme Court. The actress in 2017 had appealed the top court to intervene, saying that all trial courts had rejected her application for acquittal on the grounds that the trial was not over and the matter would be decided after closing of the evidence of the accused in the defence.
In 2011, Odho was detained by the Airport Security Force at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport for allegedly carrying two liquor bottles in her luggage. She was released shortly after the intervention of some ‘influential figures’ in the matter.
Then chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had taken suo motu notice of her release and ordered authorities to lodge a first information report of the incident.
Odho’s lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar had argued that she had been implicated in a false case as a result of the suo motu action, that too was based on news reports.
He further said that the case against his client was false and frivolous and after the prosecution’s conclusion of its evidence, it was obvious that no case had been made against her.
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