PESHAWAR, Nov 11: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday ordered production of an official of the Frontier Corps suffering from mental ailment and undergoing life term in prison.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Tariq Pervez and Justice Qaim Jan Khan ordered the Additional Registrar (Judicial) to ensure the production of the appellant, Anar Gul, on Nov 23.

The appellant, who was stenographer in the FC at Balahisar Fort, was convicted by the special judge narcotics in Kohat on Oct 14, 2003, and sentenced to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs500,000.

The appellant was arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Force on Feb 19, 2002, near the Kothal checkpoint. The ANF claimed that he was travelling in a jeep and in the vehicle's secret cavities they had found 135 kilograms of charas.

Advocate Khalid Waqar Chamkani appeared for the appellant and contended that he had been falsely implicated in the case. He pointed out that samples for chemical examination were taken only from 14 packets and not from the entire contraband.

In his confessional statement, the appellant stated that he belonged to a poor family and his children were asking for new clothes for the festival of Eid. He added that for keeping his children happy he contacted two people who had asked him to take the said jeep from Kohat.

However, before the trial court he retracted his confessional statement and stated that his family had record of mental ailment. He stated that he remained under treatment of various psychiatrists. He added that on the day of occurrence he went out of his residence he did not realise how he reached Kohat. Later on, he said when he was waiting for a public transport vehicle, he was arrested by the ANF.

The bench observed that on record the appellant had a history of mental ailment. It was observed that when he raised the plea of insanity before the trial court, the court should have stopped the trial and ascertained his mental status.