SHC dismisses appeal of six convicted of ransom kidnapping

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has dismissed the appeal of six convicts and upheld their life imprisonment sentence that was awarded to them in a kidnapping for ransom case.

Appellants Sajid, Sardar, Danish, Asghar, Mukhtiar and Khawar had been sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) for abducting a computer dealer from the Saeedabad area in March 2015.

According to the prosecution, the appellants had kidnapped Raheem Gul as he was returning from his shop, then held him captive for some 22 days, during which time they kept demanding Rs10 million from his family.

The appellants’ counsel said his clients had been falsely implicated in the case, adding that the prosecution had miserably failed to prove the charges against them.

He said that conviction must be based on unimpeachable evidence and certainty of guilt, so any doubt arising in the prosecution’s case must be resolved in favour of the accused.

He questioned the legality of the identification parade of the appellants, and said that while pronouncing the judgment, the trial court had not assessed the evidence properly. He requested the SHC to acquit his clients.

The additional prosecutor general, however, supported the prosecution’s case and the trial court’s judgment, saying that the abductee had identified all the appellants with their specific roles.

After hearing the arguments and perusing the evidence, an SHC division bench comprising Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha and Justice Zulfiqar Ali Sangi said the prosecution had proved its case against all the appellants beyond any reasonable doubt by producing reliable, trustworthy and confidence-inspired evidence.

The bench said that it had been established from the evidence of the abductee, who had been held captive for almost a month by the appellants, that they had demanded ransom from his family using his mobile phone.

The court said the abductee had been released after three of the appellants had been arrested by the police following a shoot-out, while further corroboration had been provided by the recovery of the phone from appellant Sardar’s possession.

This proves that the conversation between the accused and the complainant party had occurred during the time when the complainant was in captivity, added the court.

The bench said the ingredients of the offence of kidnapping for ransom have been fully satisfied and proved in this case, adding that the courts need to take a dynamic approach in assessing evidence in ransom kidnapping cases.

The SHC said that it had also been settled that such an offence was to be dealt with an iron hand even if there were minor discrepancies and deviation in evidence or minor shortfalls on the part of the investigation agency.

The courts are to always be dynamic and pragmatic in approaching the true facts of the case, and drawing correct and rational inferences and conclusions arising out of the facts and circumstances of each case, added the SHC.

The bench said the prosecution had proved the charges against the appellants beyond any reasonable doubt by producing reliable, trustworthy and confidence-inspiring oral evidence, as well as recovering the weapons used in the crime and material belonging to the complainant party.

The bench also said the documentary evidence collected supports the case against the appellants, and therefore, dismissed the appeals of the convicts and upheld the trial court’s order.