- Advertisement -
ISLAMABAD, Nov 26 (APP):The District & Sessions Court of Islamabad on Wednesday cleared the 10 officers of the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) in a case linked to alleged mistreatment at Aabpara Police Station.
Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate Shaista Khan Kundi announced the acquittal of all 10 APP staff members under Section 249. The judge noted that the case file contained no material, testimony, or recovery that could support the accusations.
The hearing resumed on Wednesday with the court informed that the complainant Furqan Rao’s lawyer had not appeared. The judge expressed concern over repeated absences, stating that the complainant or his counsel had not been attending proceedings. The court adjourned the session until 11:30 am to allow completion of arguments on the acquittal plea.
When the hearing resumed after the break, the complainant’s lawyer again failed to appear. The court was informed that the lawyer engaged elsewhere. The judge remarked that this was an unusual case where the complainant and his lawyer were consistently absent while the 10 accused individuals had been present since morning. She observed that such delays were unfair to the accused and amounted to punishing them without trial.
During the hearing, defence counsel Rana Ruhail Advocate, representing accused Samiullah, read out the FIR. The judge questioned the wording in the FIR, asking what was meant by the term “unrelated thugs.” The lawyer responded that all accused were government officers, while the complainant himself was facing a corruption case involving over one billion rupees and was currently on bail from the Special Judge Central. He argued that the case against the APP staff was filed with ill intent.
The judge summoned the public prosecutor and asked for arguments. After reviewing the case file, the prosecutor told the court that the investigation report made it clear that there was no recovery, no evidence, and no witness statement to support the complaint. He added that there was no proof of possession of weapons by the accused.
After hearing all sides, Judge Shaista Khan ruled that the accused were acquitted because the FIR was baseless and had resulted in unnecessary delays that affected the accused.
At the end of the hearing, former president of APP employees union Khizar Malik thanked the judge for delivering a timely decision. The judge responded that her responsibility was to decide cases according to the law and that she was satisfied justice had been served.