Saulat Mirza may record statement before a magistrate

ISLAMABAD: The government will present condemned target killer Saulat Mirza before a magistrate to get his statement recorded under section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code to give credence to the revelations made by Mirza in a video statement, which will help the investigators to complete the challans of numerous pending murder cases, a top government functionary told The News.
As of now, Saulat Mirza’s statement is of no legal value however, it has been planned to get his statement recorded before a judge so that it may be used as legal evidence, the legal czar of government stated. He mentioned that the Qanoon-e-Shahadat does not disallow any death row prisoner to record his statement. The functionary added that Mirza’s statement will be considered as sort of a dying declaration and is admissible in the courts. He mentioned that there are numerous murder cases in which investigations have not been completed but because of Saulat Mirza’s statement, the investigators will complete their challans in the FIRs. He said that even a supplementary challan in ex-chief KESC Shahid Hamid ‘s murder case be submitted in court claiming that the investigation is complete as far as Mirza’s role is concerned but the other collaborators have now been identified. He maintained that the execution of Mirza can be delayed but cannot be stopped unless President pardons him under Article 45 of the Constitution.
Another legal expert Azhar Siddique Advocate when contacted said that the Qanoon-e-Shahadat does not bar any condemned prisoner from recording his statement unless he has been convicted for giving false evidence in a court. He said that the government can produce Mirza before a judge and get his statement recorded under section 164 of CrPC and later can also use the same statement as dying declaration against those named by Mirza. He said that later the government can lodge a new FIR or can submit a supplementary challan in Shahid Hamid’s case to get others convicted as well. He maintained that the government could also take an order from the Supreme Court by moving a petition under Article 184(3) pleading for complete dispensation of justice. Azhar said that the government has no other option but to get legal worth of Mirza’s statement otherwise it will remain a video statement recorded in the death cell.
Another legal expert Ch Faisal Hussain while commenting on the issue said that if the government produces Mirza before a magistrate then his statement becomes an evidence which can be cross-examined, meaning thereby Mirza might get his execution delayed till the cross-examination of his evidence. He maintained that Mirza’s statement is of no legal worth till he is produced before a magistrate, in fact, those jail officials who got his statement recorded should have been taken into account for such an unprecedented treatment to a prisoner on a death row. However, Ch Faisal said that the criminal jurisprudence is yet to see such a case in Pakistan and it is a question whether an anti-terrorist court or a military court will admit Mirza’s statement as an evidence or not. He said that Mirza’s case may open a Pandora’s box of such statements and the government will have to handle it carefully. Faisal added that there are different options available to the government that whether it initiates fresh cases on the basis of the statement or it starts completing the already pending cases.