KARACHI: A sessions court has acquitted two men, including the driver, due to a lack of evidence in a case pertaining to a car that allegedly hit a 50-year-old man on Sharea Faisal in a rash and negligent manner, resulting in his death on the spot.

The prosecution claimed that on Oct 12, 2023, a car allegedly driven by Shaf Khan “rashly and negligently” hit a passerby, Sahib Khan, who was killed on the spot near a petrol pump at Sharea Faisal. The driver later handed over the vehicle to co-accused Osama, it added.

Both accused were implicated in the case for offences under Sections 320 (punishment for qatl-i-khata by rash or negligent driving), 322 (punishment for qatl-bis-sabab) and 114 (abettor present when offence is committed) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

After hearing the prosecution and defence counsel Abdul Ahad Khan, the additional district and sessions judge (East) acquitted both accused, who were appearing on bail before the court, for lack of evidence against them.

Explaining the reasons for the acquittal, the court noted that the deceased was initially unidentified and no legal heir came forward to register a case. However, the police themselves lodged a case against an unknown person.

It further observed that no eyewitness was named in the FIR who had seen either the accused or the incident. During the investigation, it added, no CCTV footage was secured by the investigating officer to establish who was driving the car or who was at fault.

The court also mentioned that the legal heirs of the deceased — who later identified their father — stated before the court that they had pardoned the accused persons.

According to the defence counsel, he argued before the court that there was no eyewitness and that the CCTV footage of the alleged incident was unclear. He added that co-accused Osama, who was the HR manager at the company that had only allotted the car to its employee, Shaf Khan, had no direct link to the incident.

He further argued that the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations against the accused persons.

A case was registered at Sharea Faisal under Sections 320, 322 and 114 of the PPC.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2026