LAHORE: The Punjab prosecution department on Saturday filed a state appeal before the Supreme Court’s Lahore registry, challenging the acquittal of the sole convict in the murder case of social media sensation Qandeel Baloch.

The Lahore High Court’s Multan bench had on Feb 14 acquitted Mohammad Waseem, the brother of Qandeel, of the charges, setting aside his life imprisonment handed down by a trial court in 2019 under Section 311 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The state appeal filed by Additional Prosecutor General Khurram Khan argues that the LHC did not appreciate the law and the facts of the case in its true perspective while allowing the appeal of the convict.

It says the acquittal of the convict in the case is a miscarriage of justice.

The appeal argues that the confessional statement of the convict under Section 164 CrPC was quite convincing, but the LHC discarded it on the basis of mere technicalities and assumptions.

It states that the observations made by the court in the impugned judgement with respect to the confession are against the law of the land and not sustainable in the eye of law.

The appeal contends that in this era of scientific evidence, the bench ignored the matching DNA reports of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) which establish the case of the prosecution from all corners.

It says the death of Qandeel occurred in the house of her parents and according to Section 122 of the Qanoon-i-Shahadat Order, 1984, the burden is shifted on the accused to establish his non-involvement in the crime.

It argues that the reports of the items of DNA collected from near the body of the deceased confirmed the presence of the convict on the crime scene and his involvement in the murder of his sister.

The appeal argues that a bare perusal of the evidence produced in the court and circumstances of the case make it a classic case of “honour killing” which falls within the ambit of Section 311 PPC (Fasad-fil-Arz).

It further argues that the appellate court did not consider the polygraph test which was very strong evidence against the accused.

The prosecution states that the LHC acted against the law by acquitting the convict on the basis of compromise without summoning the list of legal heirs of the deceased.

It says the deceased had a minor son and the court, while allowing the appeal of the convict, did not safeguard the rights of the minor in the case.

The appeal asks the apex court to set aside the judgement of the LHC and restore the sentence of the convict awarded by the trial court.

Justice Sohail Nasir of the LHC had allowed the appeal of Waseem after finding grave illegalities made by the judicial magistrate concerned while recording the judicial confession.

The judge, in his judgement, observed, “Once the evidence of confession is discarded, there is no other material at all with the prosecution to establish that it was a case of honour killing”.

The judge observed, “I am conscious of the fact that a famous celebrity of the country lost her life without any sin but this fact alone is not relevant to sustain the conviction of appellant for the reasons that the courts have to decide cases in accordance with law”.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2022