LAHORE: A sessions court has allowed appeal of a paan shop owner six years after his conviction under Ehteram-i-Ramzan Ordinance 1981 and with a regret on the negligence committed by the trial court.

The assistant commissioner (City)/special magistrate had in 2013 punished Jamshed Iqbal for keeping his shop open during the fasting hours. The magistrate had awarded him five-day imprisonment. Though Iqbal came out of the jail after completing the imprisonment, his appeal against the conviction remained pending for the last six years.

Allowing the appeal of Iqbal, Additional District and Sessions Judge Amir Habib writes in the acquittal verdict, “this court feels sorry, while acquitting the present petitioner/accused and sarcasting the impugned order for agony of trial of the petitioner as no compensation could be provided for the agony of petitioner from which he passed through.”

The judge notes a bare perusal of the record clearly shows that the AC/magistrate was not even conversant with the law under which he punished the petitioner. He observes that this is also stigma on the face of the system that a poor citizen has suffered a lot for getting the relief against a few days conviction order in a long period of six years.

“The system consumed these precious years of the petitioner and this situation is worst than the stone-age justice system,” the judge laments.

The judge directed his staff to send a copy of the judgment to the Punjab chief secretary along with a copy of the impugned judgment passed by the AC with direction to adhere to while authorising the special magistrates under special laws that the authority must be used strictly in accordance with Article 9 and 10 of the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2019