Acid attack: LHC dismisses appeal against conviction

Yousaf, Fareed are accused of throwing acid on a man

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) dismissed on Thursday appeals by two men against their conviction for throwing acid on a man. The court ordered their arrest from the courtroom.

Muhammad Yousaf and Ghulam Fareed of Faisalabad had been on bail following the suspension of their jail term. Their counsel told the court that in 2004 Faisalabad police had registered an FIR against them for allegedly throwing acid on one Qalb Wali. He said in 2004 a trial court had awarded seven-year imprisonment to Yousaf and 10 years to Fareed.

He said that on finding lacunae in the investigation the High Court had suspended their imprisonment in 2008 and ordered their release on bail. The lawyer said his clients were innocent and that the complainant had implicated them on account of an enmity. He requested the court to acquit them of the charges. Additional Prosecutor General Abdul Samad submitted that the incident had taken place in broad daylight. He said there had been witnesses who had recorded their statements before the trial court. He said the trial court had issued the judgement on finding the convicts guilty. He requested the court to dismiss their appeals.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2016.