PHC directs govt to apply for security of judge, official witnesses

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday directed the provincial government to submit application within three days for security of judge and official witnesses after expressing concern for their security in Mashal Khan lynching case by an anti-terrorism court.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim directed the provincial government through additional advocate general Qaiser Ali Shah to submit application for security of the judge and official witnesses, including investigation officer and police witnesses during trial of the case. The court fixed July 27 for the next hearing into the case.

During the course of hearing, additional advocate general informed the bench that it was a sensitive case and security and protection of the judge and official witnesses was necessary.

The chief justice observed that the court would consider all legal options to ensure trial of the case in a peaceful environment.  Due to delay in the commencement of the Mashal Khan lynching case trial, counsels for the parents of the accused persons submitted that the court should now pass the order as the trial will commence.

The Mardan district and sessions judge had submitted his report. The court had asked if the Mardan Central Prison had the capacity to conduct the trial of Mashal Khan lynching case by the anti-terrorism court. The court, however, did not unseal the report till next hearing into the case.

The provincial government through secretary Home and Tribal Affairs termed the Mardan Central Jail inappropriate for conducting the proceedings of Mashal lynching case. It had suggested that the Haripur Central Prison had the capacity for arranging the trial of such a sensitive case.  On the other hand, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Advocate General Abdul Latif Yousafzai, representing the provincial government, had also appeared in the court.

He had submitted that the government had no objection to the request of the father of Mashal to transfer the Mashal Khan lynching case from Mardan's anti-terrorism court to some other district in the province and holding the trial inside the prison.

Lawyers representing parents of the accused, including Syed Yousaf Shah, Inayat Bacha and Akbar Ali Shah, submitted that the newly constructed Mardan Central Jail had the capacity for holding such a trial. They said the anti-terrorism court hears the cases on the premises of the jail.

The lawyer submitted under the law, the parties should be provided the nearest court for trial for their convenience.  The lawyers requested the court to dismiss the application filed for transfer of the case.

Iqbal Khan, father of Mashal Khan, had filed the petition under Section 28 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. It empowers the court to transfer a case from one ATC to another if it is in the interest of justice.

Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old student of the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, was lynched by a mob, including students, staff members and outsiders on campus, on April 13 this year after accusing him of committing blasphemy.  His father had said in the petition that the open trial in such a sensitive matter was not possible. Therefore, he said, it should be conducted inside the jail to protect witnesses, lawyers and judges from any harm.  The petitioner feared that the trial in Mardan would create a 'serious situation', pressuring both witnesses and the petitioner into making a compromise and forcing the prosecution witnesses into changing their statements.