KARACHI, Jan 2: Due to 'negligence on the part of police', an anti-narcotic court on Monday took 'a lenient view' of a drug case by convicting two drug peddlers for a period they had already spent in jail as undertrials.

Ambia Khan and Arz Mohammad had been charged with transporting 200 kilos of hashish in July 2008.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs50,000 each and in case of non-payment the convicts would have to undergo an additional two-month imprisonment.

The judge of the special court-II for control of narcotic substances, Sanaullah Khan Ghory, who conducted the trial, pronounced the order after hearing both sides.

Excise police inspector Mushtaq Khokhor, who was the complainant and investigation officer of the case, had earlier failed to produce witnesses and documentary evidence in court.

The court wrote to senior officials of the excise department with the direction to ensure his presence and production of evidence. Subsequently, he appeared in court and deposed that the original memo of recovery was misplaced from his office. The court had ordered the suspension of the investigation officer and departmental action against him for committing 'criminal negligence'.

According to the prosecution, the excise police acting on a tip-off had intercepted a vehicle near the Northern Bypass on July 27, 2008 and recovered 200-kilo hashish concealed in the vehicle. Subsequently, the two men were arrested and a case (FIR No 10/2008) was registered against them under Section 9-C of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997 at the excise police station.

The jail authorities produced them in court in custody and the court extended them the benefit of the period they had spent as undertrial prisoners as provided for under Section 382-B of the criminal procedure code. —Staff Reporter