SC acquits 2 lifers after 17 years

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has acquitted two life prisoners after 17 years due to lack of evidence.

The trial court had sentenced the accused Imtiaz and Naeem to death under the Anti-Terrorism Act for the murder of a child, Inam, in Charsadda in 2008 after kidnapping him for ransom.

Later, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) commuted the death sentence of the accused to life imprisonment. The accused filed an appeal against the High Court’s decision after seven years in the Supreme Court.

Justice Salahuddin Panhor and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, headed by Justice Hashim Kakar, heard the case. The court said that verification and legality of evidence are extremely important in a case of death penalty or life imprisonment.

The court said that if a confession is the sole evidence but is withdrawn later, it is hard to rely on it legally. Punishing someone on the basis of a withdrawn confession, and that too with the death penalty, is a very delicate matter.