SC upholds PHC’s decision in murder case

In 2010, former CJ had acquitted a policeman accused of shooting a suspect dead.

PESHAWAR: The Supreme Court Peshawar Registry Branch has upheld Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) earlier decision to acquit a policeman accused of firing on a car in 2009 and killing a passenger.

A three-member bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Iqbal Hamidur Rehman and Justice Umar Ata Bandial was informed by the prosecution’s counsel that the accused cop, Yaqoob, opened fire on a vehicle in the jurisdiction of Gandyar police station, Dir in 2009. Imtiaz, a passenger, died as a result of Yaqoob’s firing.



The prosecutor added the trial court had indicted Yaqoob and handed him a life imprisonment sentence. However, former PHC chief justice Dost Muhammad Khan cleared him of the charges in 2010.

The prosecutor maintained that police officials who were present at the crime scene admitted in their statements that Yaqoob was not authorised to fire at the car but he did so, and shot Imtiaz in the head.

On the other hand, petitioner Sajjad Khan’s counsel told the court the PHC had ignored factual evidence and the statement of the car’s driver, Jalal, is one of such pieces of evidence.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa remarked that Jalal’s statement was taken 20 days after the incident and no evidence of a dispute between the accused and the deceased was unearthed. He added the statements of witnesses weaken the case further.

Justice Khosa said the ongoing wave of militancy has adversely affected people’s perceptions. He added if the police do not deal with militants with an iron fist, they are blamed for incompetency and when they do open fire on suspects, they have to go through psychological torment because of stringent enquiries.

On the flipside, police hardly differentiate between peaceful citizens and suspects, said the judge. The court then upheld the PHC’s decision of acquitting the accused policeman.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2014.