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ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (APP):The Supreme Court of Pakistan has acquitted two men, Muhammad Waseem and Muhammad Akram, in a murder case, granting them the benefit of doubt.
The verdict, authored by Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, was delivered by a three-member bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, and Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan. The appeal was filed against a Lahore High Court (Rawalpindi Bench) judgment that had upheld the life imprisonment of both convicts.
According to the judgment available on the Supreme Court’s website, a sessions court in Dina had initially sentenced the two men in 2019 to life imprisonment under Section 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code and imposed a fine of Rs. 500,000 each as compensation.
The FIR, lodged in 2018 by complainant Aqib Shehzad, alleged that his father, Raja Maqsood Ahmad, was killed by Muhammad Waseem, Muhammad Akram, Nauman, and Mehran using axes and clubs.
After a detailed hearing, the Supreme Court observed that the incident occurred at night, but the investigating officer neither seized the alleged light source (a bulb) nor inspected it.
The court noted discrepancies in witness statements, doubts regarding the recovery and forensic examination of the alleged murder weapon, and the absence of any independent witness during the recovery process.
The bench remarked that when such doubts exist in the prosecution’s evidence, granting the benefit of doubt to the accused is their legal right, not a concession. The court held that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt and, therefore, acquitted Muhammad Waseem and Muhammad Akram.
The court ordered their immediate release if not wanted in any other case and declared their pending criminal review petition infructuous.