ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday regretted that faulty and defective investigations and resultant prosecutions not only heap misery on the accused and his family but also on the family of victims, thus leaving the crime unaccounted for.

“This travesty could have been avoided if the investigators and prosecutors had done a better job,” observed Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa in a judgement he wrote while heading a five-judge Shariat Appellate Bench of the SC.

The bench, also comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, Dr Mohammad Khalid Masud and Dr Qibla Ayaz, had taken up an appeal of Imran aka Mani against the Jan 24, 2012 order of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) of upholding May 27, 2004 Wazirabad trial court’s conviction.

The four-page verdict emphasised that judges must be mindful of their duty to provide expeditious justice. But unfortunately, it noted, the SC remained inactive for a considerable time, which was something not envisaged by the Constitution.

Appeal decided after delay of six years

The CJP said the apex court must always be available to hear criminal cases. Besides, he noted, available SC judges must work as members even during summer vacation.

The trial court had convicted and sentenced the appellant under Section 302(b), read with Section 34, of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 (PPC) to death on two counts, for the murder of 70-year-old Mohammad Siddique and 65-year-old Ghulam Sakina and had ordered payment of compensation of Rs100,000 each to their legal heirs and in default of payment to undergo simple imprisonment for six months.

The appellant was also convicted under Section 10(2) of the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979 for committing zina with accused namely Memona, and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for seven years.

The FSC later granted bail to co-accused, Memona on Oct 14, 2004 but then she disappeared and her appeal was separated from that of the appellant.

The Shariat appellate bench regretted that no article was recovered to establish the allegation of zina, which may have had the appellant’s semen from clothing bedsheet/mattress, bed or any other place on which the act was stated to have been committed.

The prosecution case also had other lacunae and contradictions and it does not stand to reason, that zina was being committed in a fully lit room, which could be seen into from the road, nor that immediately after committing zina the accused would set upon to kill (for no apparent reason) the deceased, who were in-laws of the co-accused.

Consequently, leave to appeal in this case was granted on Sept 18, 2018 and this appeal is decided after almost six years, and for such delay, this court expresses its deepest regrets, the CJP observed.

The court also expressed its dismay at the utter lack of professionalism of the investigators and the prosecution of the murder, adding the prosecution had completely failed to establish its case, let alone met the required test of beyond reasonable doubt.

Therefore, the convictions and resultant sentences of the appellant could not be sustained and the impugned judgement of the trial court was set aside by allowing this appeal, the judgement said.

Consequently, it added, the appellant was acquitted of all charges levelled against him arising out of the case registered at the Ahmed Nagar police station, Wazirabad. The FSC then ordered that he be released forthwith if not required to be detained in any other case.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2024