Minor boy facing life sentence acquitted in drug smuggling case

The 13-year-old was caught sitting in a public transport when police recovered a huge quantity of hashish in 2013

ISLAMABAD: A 13-year-old boy, who was facing life imprisonment in a case pertaining to smuggling drugs, was acquitted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday.

The verdict was issued by a two-judge high court bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan.

Ajmal Khan Khattak Advocate argued the case for the child.

The minor boy, Salman Khan was handed life imprisonment by the trial court in 2013. He had been serving his jail term ever since.



He was caught sitting in a public transport van when police recovered over 270kg hashish from the vehicle. Salman was arrested along with the driver.

According to details, all passengers, except the child, had vacated the Rawalpindi-bound bus from Swabi on May 25, 2013 when police arrested him and the driver, Mukhtar Ahmed, after recovering a massive quantity of hashish from the vehicle.

Tarnol police station SHO sub-inspector Fazlur Rehman initiated investigation after lodging an FIR against the two.

Sessions judge Shahrukh Arjumand handed the minor life imprisonment in 2013. Former IHC judge Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani had rolled back the decision after hearing the case in 2015. However, another sessions judge Rakhshinda Shaheen reissued the life sentence later that year.

Salman spent a total of five years and six months in jail for the crime he did not commit. His mother, who was present at the time of verdict, broke down into tears on hearing the good news for her son.