SHC dismisses appeals of four convicts in drug smuggling case

The Sindh High Court on Friday dismissed the appeals of four convicts against their life imprisonment and other sentences in a drug smuggling case.

Iftikhar Ali and Mohammad Sharif were sentenced to life imprisonment, while Sheikh Imran and Adeel were sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment by the control of narcotics substance court for possessing narcotic substances.

According to the prosecution, the appellants were arrested by the police on January 24, 2017, and 78 kilograms of charas and eight kilograms of heroin powder were seized from their possession in the Quaidabad area.

The appellants’ counsel submitted that the trial court did not consider contradictions in statements of witnesses, while no independent witness had been produced against the appellants in support of the prosecution case.

They submitted that all witnesses were anti-narcotics force officials despite the fact that the incident was reported in a thickly populated area and their testimonies could not be relied upon to establish the prosecution’s case.

Special prosecutor ANF submitted that appellants were arrested on spy information and a huge quantity of narcotics was recovered from their possession, which was proved in the chemical examination report.

A high court division bench, comprising Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha and Justice Khadim Hussain Tunio, after hearing the case, observed that the prosecution had proved its case against the appellants beyond a reasonable doubt and maintained the convictions awarded to them by the trial court.