LAHORE, May 14: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to the Faisalabad Anti-terrorism Court judge for being negligent in recording the statement of a female accused in a dacoity case.

Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif ordered that ATC judge Ishtiaq Ahmad would submit his explanation to the court within two weeks as to why did he fail to take notice of a statement made in writing by one of the female co-accused. The court set aside four-year rigorous imprisonment and Rs100,000 fine awarded to Nusrat Bibi and dismissed the appeal of the remaining four accused against their conviction.

In this case, Abid, Shahnawaz and Zafar were sentenced to 19-year rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs250,000 each for having looted jewellery worth Rs350,000 from the shop of Tayyab Ramzan in Faisalabad. Nusrat Bibi and Azra Parveen, who were also placed as co-accused in this case, were awarded four-year rigorous imprisonment along with Rs100,000 fine each.

As observed by the court, in her statement recorded under Section 342, Nusrat bibi had claimed that all recoveries claimed to have been made from her were planted by the prosecution and she was innocent.

According to the accused, these recoveries were rather made from Azra. “The failure on the part of the trial court judge to take notice of this statement by a co-accused amounts to his professional negligence as he was supposed to do justice in the light of this statement,” ruled the court, adding that apparently the statement had been recorded in the absence of the judge.