SC acquits man accused of smuggling 30-kg ‘charas’

ISLAMABAD: Setting aside the verdict of Peshawar High Court, the Supreme Court on Monday acquitted a man accused of smuggling 30 kilograms of charas for the want of solid evidence.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood heard the appeal of Shah Zameen. Appearing on notice, Arshad Hussain Yousafzai, counsel for the accused submitted that a case was registered against his client related to the recovery of drugs from his vehicle at Hayatabad. The counsel contended that the vehicle and recovered drugs did not belong to the accused. The court observed that the police personnel who took the sample of the recovered drug to the laboratory were not produced as a witness in the instant matter.

Justice Sardar Tariq Masood observed that the Moharar who was shown as a witness who did not know who took a sample of the drugs to the laboratory. The judge further observed that even the report of the laboratory was not mentioned in the case as well.

Later, the court after hearing the arguments acquitted the accused for lack of evidence after setting aside the orders of the trial court and high court. As per the case, drugs were allegedly recovered from the vehicle of the accused Shah Zameen in the jurisdiction of Hayatabad police station, Peshawar. The trial court had awarded the accused punishment of 25 years imprisonment with a fine of Rs0.1 million, while the high court had upheld the decision of the trial court. Later, the accused filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the decisions of trial court and high court.