LHC overturns death sentence in Farooqabad murder case
Pakistan
The court noted that the incident was reported with a delay of two hours.
LAHORE (Muhammad Ashfaq) – The Lahore High Court (LHC) acquitted a man who had been sentenced to death for allegedly killing a citizen over a minor dispute, after allowing his appeal.
A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court comprising Justice Farooq Haider and Justice Ali Zia Bajwa announced the verdict on the appeal. The trial court had sentenced the convict, Alfat, to death in 2022; however, four years later, the High Court set aside his death sentence.
During the hearing, the accused was represented by Advocate Chaudhry Wilayat Ali. Justice Farooq Haider observed that there were several flaws in the prosecution’s case and that the prosecution had failed to satisfactorily explain the delay in lodging the report of the incident.
The court noted that the incident was reported with a delay of two hours.
According to the prosecution, after being shot, the injured person was taken to the hospital on a motorcycle. However, neither the motorcycle nor the clothes of the persons who transported the injured to the hospital were made part of the record. Moreover, the post-mortem was conducted nine hours after the incident, which raised serious questions about the case.
Based on these reasons, the court accepted the appeal against the conviction and acquitted the accused. The case against him had been registered under murder provisions at Saddar Farooqabad Police Station.
