Murder of two premiers still enigma: SC

ISLAMABAD: Justice Dost Muhammad Khan of the Supreme Court (SC), while hearing a criminal case, on Tuesday remarked that two prime ministers of the country were murdered and their murders were an enigma for the nation until now.

He remarked that billions of rupees were spent from the national exchequer to improve the prosecution system but instead of improvement, it further deteriorated. He said that all provinces spent billions of rupees but failed to provide any result. He said the earlier system was better. Even the prime minister comes under fire if the prosecution writes a word against him in foreign world, he said.

While expressing annoyance on the poor investigation due to dishonesty of police during hearing of various criminal cases on Tuesday in Supreme Court, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa remarked that no improvement was brought in the system of prosecution.

During the hearing, the Supreme Court on Tuesday turned the death sentence into life imprisonment awarded to a murder convict by a Pakpattan trial court in 2006. The trial court had handed down Ghulam Mustafa death sentence for murdering his paternal uncle and the uncle's five children.

The decision had previously been upheld by high court before it was referred to the Supreme Court. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, turned down the high court's decision, saying that there were no witnesses to the murder, and that neither robbery nor rivalry appeared to be the motives behind the crime. The court remarked that as the motive remains a mystery, it would err on the side of caution.

Referring to a 2012 case where former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was handed a $19,000 fine and a suspended jail sentence for being guilty of breach of trust in a corruption case, Justice Dost Muhammad remarked that in countries like Israel, even the prime minister comes under fire if the prosecution writes even half a page against him.