MPA’s daughter acquitted of murder charges

LAHORE :An additional district and sessions court on Wednesday acquitted the daughter of PML-N MPA Shah Jahan of the charges of torturing to death a domestic helper after the prosecution witnesses resiled from their statements.

Fouzia, daughter of PML-N MPA Shah Jahan, was booked by Akbari police on charges of killing teenager domestic worker Akhtar Ali.  During the trial, the prosecution presented three witnesses but later they changed their stance which subsequently led to the acquittal of the suspect. 

Fouzia had secured pre-arrest bail, therefore, she was never arrested by the police, and had denied the murder charges. She said that illness took the life of the servant. Soon after the incident, police inserted sections of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 but the anti-terrorism court struck the provisions and referred the matter to the sessions court.

The prosecution had contended that Akhtar Ali was tortured to death by the suspect while his body was found in a sack at the house of the MPA. It had pleaded that autopsy report also said that there were multiple marks of wounds on the body.  On July 11, Akhtar Ali, 16, was found dead and his body was recovered from the house of the MPA, the police said. 

remand extended: A judicial magistrate of district courts Wednesday extended physical remand for three days of seven people involved in illegal organ transplant trade to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). 

The court extended physical remand of two doctors including one Shahid Rasheed, three operation theatre assistants and two facilitators.  The FIA officials produced the accused before the court and sought extension in their physical remand to carry out further investigation. The court extended physical remand of the accused for three days directing the FIA to produce accused again by October 21 along with investigation report till that date.

An FIA team had raided a makeshift operation theatre in Pir Mahal, Toba Tek Singh, and had arrested the members of illegal organ transplant racket. At the time of the arrest the doctors were conducting a procedure on a Saudi national, Fahad Hijaz, and a donor woman.

However, the FIA team allowed the doctors to complete the procedure as the life of both donor and recipient was in danger. After the completion of procedure Saudi National and donor were shifted to Allied Hospital Faisalabad where the condition of Saudi National Fahad Hijaz is said to be critical.

Notices: Justice Ayesha A Malik of Lahore High Court Wednesday expressed displeasure over concealment of facts regarding alleged irregularities in PhD admissions at Institute of Communication Studies (ICS) and issued notices to four candidates, who challenged delay in the classes. 

These four petitioners submitted that they went for admission to PhD Communication Studies but due to negligence of PU officials, their classes had not been started as per schedule given in the university calendar and challan forms were not being issued to them. The petitioners’ counsel submitted that last year, PhD admissions at ICS were cancelled ‘without any reason’ and apprehensions were on the rise that their one more year would be wasted.  During the course of hearing, another PhD candidate, Khurram Shahzad, through his counsel Syed Shahbaz Bukhari moved an application, pleading that LHC had already issued directions in the matter which the students had deliberately concealed from the court.

He said last year PhD admissions at ICS were cancelled due to malpractices and irregularities in the whole admission process as failed candidates were declared pass illegally. He alleged that there were serious malpractices in the evaluation process of answer books.

The counsel said on Khurram’s petition, LHC Justice Shahid Jamil Khan on September 8 had ordered probe into alleged irregularities in the PhD entry test at ICS. He said the court had also directed the dean Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences to inquire into irregularities and implement his recommendations regarding reevaluation.

He said the present four petitioners had given the impressions to the court that they were the successful candidates and there was a matter of commencement of classes only. He said petitioners had not been declared successful in the whole admission process as final merit list was yet to be displayed by the administration.