KARACHI, Oct 9 A sessions court sentenced a man on Friday to a total of 24 years in prison in a 1998 case of making and using forged stamps and documents of the principal secretary to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (east) Sanaullah Khan Ghori pronounced his verdict after recording testimonies of prosecution witnesses and final arguments from both sides.

The court found Mohammad Shahid, son of Mohammad Hussain, guilty of preparing and possessing counterfeit stamps of Saeed Mehdi, the then principal secretary to the former premier, and other organisations, including the Pakistan International Airlines, in 1998 for the purpose of cheating and using the same as genuine on false orders.

The judge sentenced him to six years in prison under each Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing deliver of property), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471(using as genuine a forged document) and 473 (making or possessing counterfeit seal, etc. with intent to commit forgery punishable otherwise) of the Pakistan Penal Code. However, all the sentences would run concurrently.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on the convict in each Section and in case of default, the convict would have to undergo an additional six-month imprisonment in each offence.

According to the verdict, the recovery of fake stamps and documents from the possession of the accused was fully established beyond any reasonable doubt.

It said that all the witnesses were thoroughly cross-examined by the defence counsel, but it did not shatter their evidence and the documents came up on the record were self-explanatory as fake and forged.

The judgment stated that five prosecution witnesses, who were the stamp makers, testified against the accused and deposed that he got prepared the stamps and seals from them.

According to the prosecution, a case was registered against the accused on July 1, 1998 on the complaint of the then assistant director of the FIA, Altaf Hussain, following an inquiry initiated in June 1998. The accused made fake stamps and documents of the principal secretary to the then prime minister and used the same for the reinstatement of a worker of the Pakistan Works Department and wrote a false order on the application of Lt-Col Mohammad Nasir by putting forged signature and counterfeit stamps purported to have been written and signed by the principal secretary, it added.

The prosecution further said that a number of forged seals and stamps of various departments of the PIA were recovered from the residence of the accused during a house search conducted under the supervision of a judicial magistrate.

The FIA arrested the accused on July 15, 1998. Later, he was released on bail.

A case (FIR 06/1998) was registered against the accused under Section 420, 498, 471 and 473 of PPC at the FIA crime circle-II, Karachi.

The court also extended the benefit under Section 382-B (period of detention to be considered while awarding sentence of imprisonment) of the criminal procedure code to the convict.

Verdict reserved in

gang-rape case

A sessions court on Friday reserved its verdict till Oct 22 in the Kainat Soomro gang-rape case.

Four men - Ahsan, Shaban Sheikh, Roshan and Kaleemullah - have been charged with kidnapping the teenage girl, Kainat Soomro, in Jan 2007 in her native village in Dadu district and subjecting her to gang-rape.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (south) Nizar Ali Khawaja reserved his verdict for Oct 22 after hearing final arguments from both sides.

The public prosecutor, Ghazanfar Siddiqui, augured that the prosecution successfully proved its case against all the accused persons beyond a shadow of a doubt and sought capital punishment for the accused.

However, the defence counsel, Waqar Shah, contended that it was a false case as the girl contracted a court marriage with an accused, Ahsan. He had established this fact by producing documentary evidence and witnesses in court, he added.

He prayed to the court to acquit his clients.

According to the prosecution, the accused had kidnapped Kainat Soomro on Jan 10, 2007 in her native village Mehar. They detained the girl for three days and subjected her to gang-rape several times, it added.

Later, the police arrested all the accused.