KARACHI, March 10: An anti-terrorism appellate bench of the Sindh High Court accepted on Friday an appeal filed by Doctors Akmal Waheed and Arshad Waheed against their conviction and sentences by an anti-terrorism court of Karachi.
The bench, which consisted of Justices Mohammad Afzal Soomro and Rehmat Hussain Jafri, had reserved its verdict after hearing the two sides on Feb 1. In its judgment announced on Friday morning, it ruled that the prosecution had “miserably” failed to prove its allegations.
Setting aside the conviction and sentences awarded by the trial court, it ordered the appellants’ acquittal.
The evidence adduced by the prosecution cannot be relied upon, the bench observed, and ordered the release of the appellants forthwith if their custody is not required in any other case.
The case against the appellants was registered by the Gulshan-i-Iqbal police under sections 212, 216, 201 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with sections 21-J, 21-C and 11-N of the Anti Terrorist Act, 1997. It was tried by ATC-II of Karachi, presided over by judge Feroz Mehmood Bhatti. The two brothers were charged with helping terrorists and facilitating terrorist activities by organizing training for them and providing them with treatment and financial assistance when injured in the course of carrying out terrorist activities.
Both the brothers were earlier booked and arrested in cases of attack on the convoy of the Karachi corps commander in the Boating Basin police station area in mid-2004. They were also alleged to have helped terrorists who ambushed a Rangers vehicle on the Baloch Colony flyover in the jurisdiction of the Ferozabad police station jurisdiction. They were exonerated in both cases under Section 169 of the code of criminal procedure.
The Jundullah activists arrested in the ambush on the corps commander’s motorcade allegedly told the investigators during interrogation that they were treated by Dr Akmal Waheed and Dr Arshad Waheed after they received injuries during the attack. They also told the prosecution that ‘the doctor brothers’ provided medical treatment to the activists of the banned militant outfits. The brothers were, however, acquitted in the ambush case by the trial court due to lack of evidence.
Later, they were booked for helping terrorists and facilitating terrorist activities and also for concealing information they had about the perpetrators of terrorism. They were booked in the present case in FIR 305/2004 and were convicted and sentenced by the trial court on March 14, 2005. Both were sentenced to serve rigorous imprisonment for seven years and to pay a fine of Rs 50,000 each under Section 201 of the PPC. In case of default, they were to undergo imprisonment for six months more.
The doctors were also sentenced to another four year terms and to pay a fine of Rs 30,000 each. In default, they were to serve six months more under Section 212 of the PPC. Both were sentenced to another seven-year term under Section 216 read with Section 34 (PPC) and Section 21 (J) of the ATA. They were fined Rs50,000 each and in case of default to suffer imprisonment for another six months.
The prosecution was led by special public prosecutors Syed Iqtidar Ali Hashmi and Maula Bux Bhatti while the accused were represented by Advocates M Ilyas Khan, Shaukat Hayat and Mohammad Farooq.
The prosecution produced 13 witnesses while the accused examined 12 witnesses, including renowned surgeon Azhar Farooqui and other co-professionals.
The accused took the plea that they were implicated in a case at the behest of Douglas Mathew, an official of US consulate, who first tried to lure them into migrating to or visiting the US but on their refusal got them involved in false criminal charges under the ATA.
