PAKISTAN: LHC ACQUITS TWO DEATH SENTENCE CONVICTS

June 11, 2020:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on 9 June 2020 set aside the decision of a Lower Court and acquitted two death sentence convicts for lack of evidence in a double murder case. The Division Bench comprising Sardar Ahmad Naeem and Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry passed the orders while allowing appeals filed by Matloob Ahmad and Muhammad Rasheed against their death sentences by a Trial Court. A counsel on behalf of the convicts argued before the bench that the Trial Court failed to appreciate case facts and awarded death sentence to the convicts in violation of the merit and law. He submitted that the Trial Court awarded the sentence after relying on statements of witnesses but there was no evidence to prove their presence on the scene. He pleaded with the court to set aside the sentence and acquit the convicts for lack of evidence. However, the prosecution opposed the appeal, saying that the Trial Court gave decision on merit.
The court, after hearing arguments of parties, set aside the sentences and acquitted the convicts. A Kasur Trial Court had awarded death sentence to Matloob Ahmad and Muhammad Rasheed for murdering Tariq and Shazia Bibi due to an old enmity.