PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Tuesday set aside the conviction of five people, including three women, by a subordinate court and acquitted them in a drug trafficking case.

Justice Lal Jan Khattak and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan accepted appeals filed by the five convicts and ruled that the prosecution didn’t prove its case against appellants.

The appellants named Mohammad Shareef, Mohammad Yaqoob, Ms Nageena, Ms Jan Sultana and Ms Basia were arrested by officials of Sheikh Maltoon Town police station, Mardan, on Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway on Sep 9, 2014.

The police had alleged that they had prior information that a motor car would be parked on motorway and some lady smugglers would board that car after reaching there in another vehicle.

It was alleged that the police had made a cordon on the road and had apprehended the said five persons near the two cars.

The police alleged that two of the females had tied packets of charas with the help of belts with their bodies each weighing 10 kilogrammes.

All five accused were convicted by an additional district and sessions judge in Mardan on May 28, 2015, and were sentenced to life imprisonment with fine of Rs 100,000 each.

Advocates Noor Alam Khan, Shamsul Haq, Kifayatullah Shahabkhel and Nosheen appeared for the appellants and contended that their clients were implicated in a concocted case.

Noor Alam pointed out that the prosecution had named a lady constable that she had carried out body search of the two women from whom the contraband was recovered but the said constable was not produced before the trial court to testify against the appellants.

He said the constable was a prime witness and she was abandoned by the prosecution.

The lawyer said there was a standard operating procedure under which the law-enforcement agencies were asked not to make any cordon on the motorway and that they were empowered to carry out checking only at the exit and entry points on the Motorway.

He asked how the Mardan police had cordoned the Motorway and carried out the operation there.

Mr Noor argued that the police had sent samples for chemical examination from the alleged recovered contraband after delay of 25 days, which made the recovery doubtful.

He added that while the prosecution claimed recovery from two of the appellants, all five petitioners were awarded identical sentences, which was improper.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2017