KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Friday set aside the life imprisonment handed down to a man in a murder case.

An antiterrorism court had sentenced Asif Iqbal to life imprisonment in March 2019 after holding him guilty of killing Irfan Khan and injuring his brother Dawood Khan when they were travelling on Abul Hassan Ispahani Road in 2010.

The convict challenged the trial court order and after hearing both sides and examining the record and proceedings the bench headed by Justice K. K. Agha allowed the appeal.

The bench in its order said that the prosecution could not establish its case beyond a shadow of a doubt as the FIR was not containing the name and description of the appellant, no one from the locality was examined by the police as witness and there were glaring contradictions in the statements of witnesses.

It further observed that the car wherein the alleged incident had taken place was never produced during the trial and the statement of the wounded, Dawood Khan, was not recorded by the police for the reason that he was unfit to make such a statement.

“Even otherwise, nothing has been brought on record by the prosecution in shape of memo of injuries or medical certificate, which may suggest that Dawood Khan has actually sustained the fire shot injuries allegedly at the hands of appellant and others,” it added.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2021