ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has overturned the Nov 10, 2015, Sindh High Court order of acquitting a heroin smuggler with an observation that ample evidence existed on record to hold that trial court rightly convicted the individual.

“Even when no proper investigation is conducted, but material that comes before the court is sufficient to connect the accused with the commission of the crime, the accused can still be convicted, notwithstanding minor omissions that have no bearing on the outcome of the case,” held Justice Faisal Arab in a judgement he wrote while accepting an appeal moved by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) against the acquittal of Muhammad Arshad of all charges.

The appeal was heard by a three-judge Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Maqbool Baqir, Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain.

Arshad was arrested at Karachi airport just before taking a flight to Bangkok on a tip-off that he might smuggle heroin abroad. Subsequently he was taken to nearby Nihal Hospital in Malir for X-Ray of his abdomen which disclosed that it contained foreign bodies.

Arshad was then brought to the Jinnah Hospital, Karachi, in the custody of ANF police for further examination where a doctor administered Lactulose syrup and Omerprazole capsule, thereafter Arshad excreted 50 capsules, which after chemical examination were found to contain 550 grams of heroin powder.

Arshad was then tried by the Special Court-II, ANF, Karachi, which found him guilty and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment of five years and a fine of Rs50,000.

Subsequently, Arshad challenged his conviction in the SHC and he was acquitted on Nov 10, 2015, by the court on the grounds that Dr Inam Khan, who appeared as a prosecution witness, did not support the prosecution version that the convict did not excrete heroin-filled capsules in the presence of the doctor; and that no doctor of the Nihal Hospital or paramedic staff, where the convict was initially taken for X-Ray after his arrest, was examined by the Investigating Officer or produced before the trial court.

Such omissions led the SHC to believe, the judgement observed, that no independent, trustworthy or confidence-inspiring evidence was brought on record to connect the respondent with the commission of the crime.

The Supreme Court judgement, however, explained that the chemical examiner, Dr Fazal Elahi, had deposed before the trial court that 50 capsules weighing 550 grams of heroin powder were found from Arshad.

It is an admitted position, the judgement observed, that Arshad was arrested at the airport and that X-Ray as well as the receipt of the hospital had been produced in evidence before the trial court.

Though the X-Ray does not contain the name of Arshad, it contains the receipt number and on the receipt itself the name of the convict and the very same receipt number that is on the X-Ray was there, the verdict said, adding that after the X-Ray, Arshad was then taken to the Jinnah Hospital and at all times his custody was secured through police personnel.

The verdict explained that there existed no material omission or contradiction in the depositions of the prosecution witnesses.

Thus, there exists ample evidence on record to find Arshad guilty and that the trial court rightly convicted him.

Published in Dawn December 21st, 2016