PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench has acquitted an Afghan national by setting aside his conviction and 29-year imprisonment sentence awarded by an anti-terrorism court in a case of the possession of an improvised explosive device.

Justice Qalandar Ali Khan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim accepted the appeal of the convict, Ubaidullah, observing that the prosecution didn’t prove its case against the appellant and that the evidence on record didn’t connect him with the commission of the offence.

The bench also ordered the immediate deportation of the Afghan national for being without legal documents to stay in the country.

The counter-terrorism department had claimed that it had spotted Ubaidullah near Khazana Sugar Mills on Charsadda Road with a suspicious sack on June 26, 2016, and recovered a 20kg IED, safety fuses and detonators from the sack during inspection.

Orders his immediate deportation for being without legal documents to stay in the country

On Jan 23, 2018, ATC judge Sabir Khan had handed down 29-year imprisonment to the arrested man under the Anti-terrorism Act, Foreigners Act and Explosive Substance Act.

Shabir Hussain Gigyani, lawyer for the appellant, said the trial court had ignored several important facts and evidence on record while convicting his client.

He said around five months before the alleged June 2016 occurrence, Ubaidullah was taken into custody by an intelligence agency in the Doctors Colony of Zargarabad area, Peshawar, when he had gone to offer prayers.

The lawyer said after the intelligence agency didn’t find anything objectionable, Ubaidullah was handed over to the CTD, which charged him in a concocted case.

He said there was evidence on record to establish his client’s version, while the prayer leader of the relevant mosque had also testified before the trial court that his client was picked up in Zargarabad area.

The lawyer said his client belonged to a respectable family doing poultry business and that he had cleared his secondary examination before the alleged occurrence.

He said the Bomb Disposal Unit’s report also contradicted the statements of its officials before the trial court.

The lawyer said though the prosecution case had glaring flaws, the trial court had convicted the appellant.

ACQUITTED: An anti-terrorism court has acquitted two persons charged by the counter- terrorism department with carrying an improvised explosive device on Peshawar Ring Road last year.

ATC Judge Mehmoodul Hassan ruled that the prosecution didn’t prove its case against the two accused, including Ashraf Shahzad of Rawalpindi and Shah Gee of Surezai area, Peshawar.

The CTD had alleged that its personnel had stopped the two accused on the Ring Road on Oct 24, 2017, while they were going to the city area and had seized an IED weighing 3.5kg along with detonators and safety fuses.

An FIR was registered at the CTD police station under the Anti-Terrorism Act and Explosive Substance Act.

Advocate Saeed Khan appeared for Ashraf Shahzad, whereas Shabir Gigyani represented the other accused.

Saeed Khan said his client was taken into custody in Rawalpindi and was kept in illegal detention.

He said Ashraf’s wife had also lodged complaints on different forums against the illegal detention of her husband and had also submitted application to the Commission on Enforced Disappearances.

The lawyers said the accused were implicated in a fake case, which was evident from the conflicting statements recorded by different prosecution witnesses.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2018