Rawalpindi RA Bazar blast case: SC acquits 20-time death sentence convict on weak evidence

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday acquitted a 20-time death sentence convict involved in RA Bazar Rawalpindi suicide blast case by giving him benefit of doubt and weak prosecution.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by chief justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa heard through video link from Lahore Registry an appeal of one Umar Adeel against his death sentence awarded by trial court and later on upheld by the Lahore High Court.

Umar Adeel Khan was accused of assisting suicide bomber. A suicide blast on a bus, carrying employees of ISI in Rawalpindi in 2007, killed 20 people and injured 36. The trial court had awarded Umar Adeel 20-time death sentence while the Lahore High Court had upheld the trial court verdict.

During the course of proceedings, additional prosecutor general Punjab Amjad Rafique told the court that it was not a normal blast as it was a targeted bomb blast. Three people came in a car, one entered the bus while two others returned to the car, he added. The court was informed that when the car left, a blast occurred in the car. The additional prosecutor general said that the instant case should not be taken as an ordinary case as the defenders of the country were targeted that resulted in loss of 20 precious lives, injuring 36 others.

The chief justice, however, told the prosecutor general to ask the government to make amendment in the present law then the court will examine such cases in view of the amended law. The chief justice observed that the present law is equally applicable to all the citizens. "We have to decide the cases in accordance with the present laws", the CJP remarked.

The chief justice noted that 20 people have been martyred while 36 others were injured in the present case, however, the prosecution did not make a proper case. Those martyred had valuable sacrifices for the country while the prosecution made such a case, the CJP observed.