LHC dismisses accused’s petition in lynching case

Petitioner had requested high court to omit ATC charge due to matter being of ‘personal enmity’

LAHORE:

A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea, declaring it as not maintainable, which called for the trial proceedings to be set aside in the case of Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara who had been lynched by a mob in Sialkot.

The prime accused, Taimoor Ahmad, had filed the writ petition in the provincial high court.

Questioning the trial proceedings of the case, the petition was filed through Advocate Hafiz Israr Ul Haq, as the accused requested that the LHC omit Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATC) 1997, claiming it did not apply as the crime was “purely a matter of personal enmity”.

The petition furthered requested the court to set aside the trial proceedings and the charges which had been framed in light of Section 7 of the ATC be amended, with new charges framed.

Advocate Israr argued that the trial court injudiciously framed charges on the accused despite a lack of recorded evidence.

“After framing charges, the trial court recorded the testimonies of all witnesses in the absence of the accused’s counsels.”

Advocate Israr furthered that the opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses was not granted - which impedes the right to a fair trial.

The counsellor also informed the court that Adnan Malik, a witness, instigated the employees of the Rajko Factory, stating that the violence was not a matter of terrorism but personal enmity for the post of General Manager (GM) amongst the deceased and Adnan Malik.

“Now, Adnan Malik is performing his services as GM of the factory, this makes the story of prosecution doubtful. It is crystal clear that when there is no sense of insecurity and a matter of private enmity then section 7 ATA is not attracted”.

The petitioner then moved an application before the trial court seeking the deletion of section 7-ATA and an amendment in the charge under Section 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on the grounds that the attack was not pre-meditated, but was dismissed on March 22.

The petitioner’s counsel also implored that in light of the contents of the First Information Report (FIR), statements of witnesses recorded under Section 161 of CrPC and all evidence available on record that Section 7 of the ATA is not concerned.

“The trial court has violated the basic principles of norms of justice in recording the examination in-chief of all the witnesses in the absence of counsels of the accused without giving the opportunity of cross examining the witnesses while recording examination in-chief, therefore the whole proceedings of the trial court be set aside”, the counsellor argued.

On December 3, 2021, Priyantha Kumara was brutally lynched and his body was set on fire by a mob in Sialkot. The incident outraged the nation as the civil and military leaders denounced it as “horrific” “shameful” and “extra-judicial vigilantism”.

President Arif Alvi said the vigilante attack has nothing to do with religion as Prime Minister Imran Khan promised that those responsible “will be punished with the full severity of the law”.

The gut-wrenching incident took place on Sialkot’s Wazirabad Road, where workers of private factories brutally lynched the Sri Lankan national, Priyantha Kumara.

Police on February 22, submitted a challan to the prosecution -- nominating over 88 people for the gruesome lynching of Priyantha Kumara, on the allegation that he had committed blasphemy. As many as 40 witnesses have so far recorded their statements before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) hearing on the mob lynching.

ATC judge Natasha Naseem led the proceedings at the Kot Lakhpat prison, where six eyewitnesses recorded their statements on March 20, bringing the total number of witnesses who have recorded their testimonies in the case to 40. It may be noted that the prosecution has submitted two separate challans in the case. The trial of nine juveniles in the case is being conducted separately. ATC has indicted 89 suspects, while the suspects denied their involvement in the lynching of the Sri Lankan national.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2022.