PESHAWAR, Oct 2: Dismissing appeals of two people involved in preparation of substandard drugs, the Peshawar High Court here on Wednesday ruled that selling spurious and substandard drugs was a crime against humanity.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice Talat Qayyum Qureshi, observed the appellants deserved no leniency.

The two appellants — Haji Ibrahim, managing director of Anglo Pharma Laboratories, and Mohammad Din, owner of Continental Enterprises — who were on bail, were arrested in the courtroom.

They were convicted by a local drug court on April 9, and were sentenced to three-month imprisonment with a fine of Rs50,000 each. The two later moved the high court against their conviction by the drug court.

Deputy Advocate-General, Tariq Jawed and Mian Abdul Fayyaz advocate appeared for the government and argued that the appellants had been playing with the lives of people and should not be extended any leniency.

They added that the appellants had pleaded guilty before the drug court, following which they were convicted and the sentence was pronounced.

The government counsel stated that under the CrPC no appeal could be filed by a convict in case he had pleaded guilty before the trial court. They added that merely on the basis of some technical points the appellants should not be spared.

The appellants counsel argued that the appellants had pleaded guilty before the drug court comprising the chairman and two members on April 8, and on the next day the drug court announced the verdict while one of the members was not available.

They argued the verdict delivered by the court was not maintainable as the composition of the court was not correct under the Drug Act.

They requested the court to accept their appeal and remand the case back to the drug court.

The court asked the appellants’ counsel why the sentence of the convicts should not be enhanced as they were involved in a heinous crime.

The bench observed that the sentence of three months was very lenient and it could not be commuted or set aside.