Man convicted of firing on wife challenges court decision
Plea to acquit Atiqa Odho in liquor recovery case dismissed
PHOTO: FILE
RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD:
A man convicted of firing on his wife and brother-in-law in district court’s parking has challenged the decision in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). In the application, he requested that the IHC acquit him by voiding his sentence
Mufti Kifayatullah, who has been imprisoned since the past six months, said in his application that the trial court neglected various realities and facts when awarding the imprisonment while the property inherited from his mother’s and his wife’s father was the real dispute.
He claimed that his wife, Sabah, initially filed for a divorce in the court and later registered a fake case of firing against him. There was a serious contradiction in his wife’s statements and the witnesses’ statements in the case. He also stated that one of the witnesses was his wife’s brother. Despite the discrepancies in both their statements, Kifayatullah ended up getting convicted.
He claimed that the trial was halted because his wife did not go through with the whole case. However, he was sentenced in another allegedly fake case regarding the custody of their children.
Kifayatullah stated that he was sentenced to imprisonment by the judicial magistrate on December 17, 2018 whereas the district and session judge upheld this decision.
LHC instructions
The Lahore High Court (LHC) has clearly instructed all the session, civil, family and magistrate courts across Punjab to make decisions till June 30 while the judges have been barred from adjourning old cases.
Furthermore, additional sessions and civil judges and magistrates have been deployed for swift proceedings.
The LHC Chief Justice will review the performances through a weekly report.
It has been estimated that up to 60% of cases in the lower courts of Punjab will be concluded after this decision by the end of June.
Moreover, the districts courts of Rawalpindi have resolved some 6,500 cases in the span of the past three months. In order to eliminate the practice of fake testimony, the Lahore High Court has barred the judicial staff in all subordinate courts from recording statements and ordered that testimonies can only be recorded in the judges’ presence.
Atiqa Odho case
The Rawalpindi Assistant Commissioner Naeem Afzal has rejected the acquittal plea in Atiqa Odho’s case. The television star was caught with bottles of wine at the Benazir International Airport of Islamabad in 2011 while she was flying to Karachi.
The artist appealed on the basis of the absence of substantial evidence against her but her plea for acquittal was denied by the civil court.
Furthermore, notices have been issued to the SHO of Airport Police Station to present witnesses for the case on March 8. The assistant commissioner had reserved the verdict for Wednesday. Atiqa Odho was also present in the courtroom during the proceeding.
The Airport Police registered this case on the suo-moto action of former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, on June 4, 2011. This is the oldest pending adjudication in the district for the last seven years. Some 13 judges, in this case, have changed during the proceedings while all cases related to liquor till 2017 have been decided in civil and magistrate courts of the districts.
IHC on IESCO
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday suspended the notices of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) served to Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (IESCO) for tax collection.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, issued the stay order against the three notices of FBR on a petition of IESCO. The IESCO Counsel Adnan Randhava informed the bench that the FBR had served three notices to his client department for the recovery of Rs7.55 billion.
He suggested that the court suspend the notices of FBR, which was accepted by the court. The court also served notices to FBR regarding the above matter and adjourned the case till March 6.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2019.
A man convicted of firing on his wife and brother-in-law in district court’s parking has challenged the decision in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). In the application, he requested that the IHC acquit him by voiding his sentence
Mufti Kifayatullah, who has been imprisoned since the past six months, said in his application that the trial court neglected various realities and facts when awarding the imprisonment while the property inherited from his mother’s and his wife’s father was the real dispute.
He claimed that his wife, Sabah, initially filed for a divorce in the court and later registered a fake case of firing against him. There was a serious contradiction in his wife’s statements and the witnesses’ statements in the case. He also stated that one of the witnesses was his wife’s brother. Despite the discrepancies in both their statements, Kifayatullah ended up getting convicted.
He claimed that the trial was halted because his wife did not go through with the whole case. However, he was sentenced in another allegedly fake case regarding the custody of their children.
Kifayatullah stated that he was sentenced to imprisonment by the judicial magistrate on December 17, 2018 whereas the district and session judge upheld this decision.
LHC instructions
The Lahore High Court (LHC) has clearly instructed all the session, civil, family and magistrate courts across Punjab to make decisions till June 30 while the judges have been barred from adjourning old cases.
Furthermore, additional sessions and civil judges and magistrates have been deployed for swift proceedings.
The LHC Chief Justice will review the performances through a weekly report.
It has been estimated that up to 60% of cases in the lower courts of Punjab will be concluded after this decision by the end of June.
Moreover, the districts courts of Rawalpindi have resolved some 6,500 cases in the span of the past three months. In order to eliminate the practice of fake testimony, the Lahore High Court has barred the judicial staff in all subordinate courts from recording statements and ordered that testimonies can only be recorded in the judges’ presence.
Atiqa Odho case
The Rawalpindi Assistant Commissioner Naeem Afzal has rejected the acquittal plea in Atiqa Odho’s case. The television star was caught with bottles of wine at the Benazir International Airport of Islamabad in 2011 while she was flying to Karachi.
The artist appealed on the basis of the absence of substantial evidence against her but her plea for acquittal was denied by the civil court.
Furthermore, notices have been issued to the SHO of Airport Police Station to present witnesses for the case on March 8. The assistant commissioner had reserved the verdict for Wednesday. Atiqa Odho was also present in the courtroom during the proceeding.
The Airport Police registered this case on the suo-moto action of former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, on June 4, 2011. This is the oldest pending adjudication in the district for the last seven years. Some 13 judges, in this case, have changed during the proceedings while all cases related to liquor till 2017 have been decided in civil and magistrate courts of the districts.
IHC on IESCO
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday suspended the notices of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) served to Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (IESCO) for tax collection.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, issued the stay order against the three notices of FBR on a petition of IESCO. The IESCO Counsel Adnan Randhava informed the bench that the FBR had served three notices to his client department for the recovery of Rs7.55 billion.
He suggested that the court suspend the notices of FBR, which was accepted by the court. The court also served notices to FBR regarding the above matter and adjourned the case till March 6.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2019.