PESHAWAR, Nov 17: An additional district and sessions judge on Thursday acquitted eight former employees of a state-run school who had been charged with abusing students. The court accepted an application filed by the accused under section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code which empowers the court to acquit an accused before conclusion of the trial when there is no possibility of conviction.

The applicants associated with the Peshawar Government Higher Secondary School City No 3 were former principals Hussain Shah and Haji Abdur Rasheed; teachers Abdul Qayyum, Himayatullah and Mubarak Ahmad; clerks Shahnawaz and Muhammad Humayun; and watchman Abdul Baseer. They were already on bail.

The FIR against the accused was registered at the Kabuli police station on Oct 23, 2004, following a judicial inquiry conducted by another additional district and sessions judge. They were charged under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including section 377 that deals with sexual abuse.

Earlier on Jan 27, 2005, the Peshawar High Court had accepted eight identical writ petitions of the accused. It had ordered deletion of section 377 from the FIR, observing that it was not applicable to the instant case.

The remaining sections pertain to forgery, cheating and misconduct.

Advocate Pir Fida, appearing for the accused, contended that the instant case was registered on the basis of hearsay and there was no evidence on record which could connect the accused to the commission of the abuse.

HINDKO MOOT: A two-day international Hindko conference will be held here from Saturday.