ATC sends Salman Abro to judicial custody
The defence counsel requested the court to treat the suspect as a juvenile.
The ATC-III sent Abro, the son of Sakrand police training centre SSP Ghulam Sarwar Abro, and four other suspects to jail on judicial custody remand till June 3.
KARACHI:
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) sent the main accused, Salman Abro, to jail in a case relating to the murder of a student, Sulaiman Lashari, as the defence failed to convince the judge into keeping him at a hospital under police custody.
The ATC-III sent Abro, the son of Sakrand police training centre SSP Ghulam Sarwar Abro, and four other suspects to jail on judicial custody remand till June 3. The court also directed the investigation officer to submit a charge sheet on the next date of hearing.
As the case was taken up, the defence counsel moved an application requesting the court to keep Abro under police custody in a hospital, instead of in jail, as he needed medical treatment and supervision.
However, the district public prosecutor, Abdul Maroof, revealed that the suspect has already been discharged from the hospital and the doctors have only recommended out-patients department treatment, which is also available in jail. The prosecutor submitted the discharge certificate of the suspect to support his claim.
To this, the defence counsel said that the investigation officer had pressurised the doctors into issuing the discharge certificate. The state prosecutor countered the statement by saying that it is not possible for a junior officer to influence a senior officer and added that the allegations were false.
The defence counsel then requested the court to treat the suspect as a juvenile and send him to Karachi's Youthful Offenders Industrial School as he was underage. Maroof argued that the medico-legal certificate of the Jinnah Hospital and the discharge certificate of the Ziauddin Hospital confirmed that the suspect was over the age of 18 and submitted the certificates before the court. Maroof also contended that the defence did not submit any application to determine the suspect's age and at this stage the court cannot send him to a juvenile detention centre.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2014.
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) sent the main accused, Salman Abro, to jail in a case relating to the murder of a student, Sulaiman Lashari, as the defence failed to convince the judge into keeping him at a hospital under police custody.
The ATC-III sent Abro, the son of Sakrand police training centre SSP Ghulam Sarwar Abro, and four other suspects to jail on judicial custody remand till June 3. The court also directed the investigation officer to submit a charge sheet on the next date of hearing.
As the case was taken up, the defence counsel moved an application requesting the court to keep Abro under police custody in a hospital, instead of in jail, as he needed medical treatment and supervision.
However, the district public prosecutor, Abdul Maroof, revealed that the suspect has already been discharged from the hospital and the doctors have only recommended out-patients department treatment, which is also available in jail. The prosecutor submitted the discharge certificate of the suspect to support his claim.
To this, the defence counsel said that the investigation officer had pressurised the doctors into issuing the discharge certificate. The state prosecutor countered the statement by saying that it is not possible for a junior officer to influence a senior officer and added that the allegations were false.
The defence counsel then requested the court to treat the suspect as a juvenile and send him to Karachi's Youthful Offenders Industrial School as he was underage. Maroof argued that the medico-legal certificate of the Jinnah Hospital and the discharge certificate of the Ziauddin Hospital confirmed that the suspect was over the age of 18 and submitted the certificates before the court. Maroof also contended that the defence did not submit any application to determine the suspect's age and at this stage the court cannot send him to a juvenile detention centre.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2014.