SC acquits death row inmate after 12 years in jail

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Monday acquitted a death row inmate after he languished 12 long years behind the bars.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa heard the appeal of convict against death sentence handed down to him by a trial court on charges of murdering three women.

The convict, Basharat Ali, was booked in a case of murdering three women in Sialkot in 2005. A trial court had handed down death sentence to Ali which was also upheld by the Lahore High Court.

The convict challenged the rejection of his appeal against the sentence by the LHC in the Supreme Court. Counsel of the convict Siddique Baloch pointed out contradictions in the prosecution case, saying that prosecution says the incident happened at 10am while the witnesses said it happened at 10pm.

The court, after hearing arguments of the accused’s counsel, acquitted him for lack of evidence and contradictions in the statements of witnesses. Justice Khosa reprimanded the prosecution saying that the prosecution neither does its job properly not it has the courage to tell the truth.