SHC sets aside death sentences of two convicts

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday set aside the death sentences of two convicts in a murder case as the prosecution failed to prove charges against them.

Mohammad Imran and Shahid Jameel were sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court on November 26, 2019 on charges of killing on Rajab Ali in Gulshan-e-Iqbal area. According to the prosecution, the appellants killed Ali and threw his body near Aero club’s gate and confessed to committing the crime before the police officials.

The appellants' counsel submitted that they had been falsely involved in the case by the police and their conviction was on the basis of no evidence, and sought for acquittal of the appellants. The Additional Prosecutor General supported the impugned judgment of the anti-terrorism court and sought for dismissal of the appeal.

After hearing the arguments of the counsel and perusal of the evidence of the case, a division bench of the SHC comprising Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha and Justice Irshad Ali Shah observed that admittedly none had seen the appellants committing the murder of the said deceased.

The court observed that it was alleged that the appellants on arrest made their statements one after other before the police ASIs, Zubair and Farrukh Hussain, admitting their guilt. The court observed that it was the only evidence which the prosecution was able to collect against the appellants. If for the sake of arguments, it was believed that the appellants had admitted their guilt before the police officers, even then such admission on their part could not be used against them as evidence to base conviction in terms of Article 38 of the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984. The court observed that in such circumstances it could be concluded safely that the prosecution had not been able to prove its case against the appellants beyond shadow of doubt and to such benefit they were found entitled.