September 26, 2002	Thursday	Rajab 18, 1423

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PESHAWAR, Sept 25: The customs appellate bench of the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday ruled that the special judge customs had no jurisdiction to try a narcotics accused under the Control of Narcotics Substance Act (CNSA), 1997.

The bench comprising Justice Khalida Rachied accepted appeal of a convict, Zahir Shah, and set aside his conviction by the special judge customs and anti-smuggling, Peshawar.

The court held the trial conducted by the special judge against the law, observing that under the CNSA only the special judge anti-narcotics was empowered to conduct a trial.

The appellant, Zahir Shah, was arrested by the officials of Customs department on Jan 17, 1999, and a huge quantity of narcotics, including 178kgs of charas and 152kgs of opium, was recovered from his possession.

He was booked under the Customs Act and Control of Narcotics Substance Act, 1997, and was sentenced to five years imprisonment by the Customs Judge in June, 2001.

Advocate Mian Abdul Fayyaz appeared for the appellant and argued that the special judge customs had no jurisdiction under the CNSA to try the appellant. He contended that under the CNSA only the special judge anti-narcotics could conduct such a trial.

Although, the appellant was acquitted by the court but he would remain in the prison as he was also convicted by the special judge anti-narcotics and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Woman Acquitted: A woman convicted for drug trafficking by a lower court was acquitted by a two-member bench of the PHC on Wednesday.

The female-appellant, Gulab Zari, was arrested by officials of Akora Khattak police station on Feb 2, 2000, and from her custody they claimed recovering 8.5kgs of charas. She was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs50,000 by the district and sessions judge.

Advocate Wali Kahn Afridi appeared for the appellant and argued that the police claimed the search of the woman was carried out by a woman cop who had recovered the contraband. However, he added that female cop was not produced before the court for recording her statement. Moreover, he added, that the investigation officer concerned did not turn up before the trial court.

The bench comprising Justice Tariq Pervaiz and Justice Ijazul Hassan observed that the judgment of the trial court was not sustainable as important points were overlooked. The bench inquired from Advocate Atif Khan, appearing for the government, why the female cop was not produced as a witness. The court observed that initially the police claimed arresting the lady from Jehangira chowk and later claimed arresting her from Akora Khattak chowk.