Cowing down? Court rejects govt’s plea against bomb suspect

The court notes procedural flaws in identification parade.

ISLAMABAD:

A court on Thursday rejected a criminal appeal filed by the federal government against Muhammad Ilyas, the man who was acquitted in the 2008 Melody bomb blast case.

A two-member division bench of Islamabad High Court (IHC) comprising Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman and Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi rejected the criminal appeal and observed that proper procedure was not adopted during the identification parade, the procedure of lining up a group of people including the one suspected of a crime to see whether a witness can identify the suspect.

“Prosecution did not fulfil the legal procedure during the identification parade,” the court observed.

The counsel for the federal government Muhammad Ghiyasul Haq had earlier filed a criminal appeal challenging the December 14, 2010, decision of trial court. It requested the court to set side the decision.

Haq said that the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) acquitted Muhammad Ilyas alias Qari Jameel in the case of suicide attack near Melody Market in Islamabad. The attack which took place on June 6, 2008, killed 15 police men on the day of the first anniversary of military operation against the Lal Masjid.

The counsel for the federation told the court that Ilyas, a resident of Chakwal and a hardened militant, was seen directing the suicide attacker to carry out the attacks on the police party which had gathered near Melody Market for security purposes.

The prosecution cited two police men as witnesses who had seen the accused at the site of the blast with the man who carried out the attack. Later, the witnesses identified Ilyas, while he was in police custody after being arrested by Rawalpindi police.

Haq told the two-member bench that the trial court decision was illegal and they did not consider three main prosecution witnesses during the proceedings. He informed the court that one of the prosecution witness had identified Ilyas at the police station during the identification parade, besides which 38 witnesses had also recorded their statements in the case.

Ilyas was arrested with eight other men from a locality near Rawalpindi in January 2009 and was accused of helping the suicide attackers in different cases in the twin cities. A case was registered with Aabpara police; however ATC-I Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan acquitted him on December 14 2010.

In the attack, two civilians and 15 police men were killed along with then SHO of Sihala Police Inspector Chuadhry Muhammad Safdar after a congregation of the supporters of Lal Masjid culminated on the completion of one year of military operation on militants.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th_, 2011.