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PESHAWAR, May 2: A division bench of the Peshawar High Court on Thursday reserved its verdict in a habeas corpus petition filed by a former additional secretary of physical planning and housing department, Akbar Marwat, who was convicted by an accountability court.
The petitioner claimed that he had already undergone the prison term awarded to him by the trial court. He claimed that as final disposal of his accountability appeal about the fine against him was suspended by the high court, therefore he was entitled to be released.
The petitioner was tried on charges of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and was convicted by an accountability court on Jan 24. He was sentenced to four years imprisonment and fined Rs 3.84 million.
Advocate Sattar Khan appeared for the petitioner and contended that he was arrested on Sep 8, 2000. He argued that at the time of his conviction the court granted him benefit of section 382-B whereby his period of detention was included in his prison term.
Mr Khan stated that four presidential remissions of six months each under Article 45 of the Constitution were granted to the petitioner following which his prison term completed on March 1, 2002. He stated that the inspector general of prisons on his own withdrew those remissions, which was illegal and against the law. He argued that the IG could not withdraw the remissions granted by the president.
APPEAL GRANTED: Accepting a criminal appeal, the Federal Shariat Court here on Thursday acquitted four persons including a woman earlier convicted by a trial court under the Hudood laws.
A single bench of the court comprising the Chief Justice Fazal Ilahi Khan set aside the order of additional district and sessions judge, Anwer Hussain Khan, and ruled that the court had overlooked various important points.
The appellants, Shahjehan, Sher Ali, Umer Badshah and Ms Aliya, were sentenced to two years imprisonment each under the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979. They were arrested by officials of police station Lundkhwar, Mardan, on July 18, 1999, when they were travelling in a vehicle. The police claimed that they caught them when they were involved in fornication.
The trial court sentenced them on Feb 1, 2002. The appellants’ counsel argued that the evidence of the prosecution witnesses went in favour of the appellants but despite that they were convicted by the court. They questioned that how could it be possible for four persons to indulge in such crime in a car.
