The Supreme Court acquitted three men on Thursday after their conviction in a terrorism case seven years ago. Rehmatullah, Murad Ali and Abdul Rehman were sentenced for their alleged involvement in the killing of at least 12 bus passengers in Sibi in 2011.
Heading a three-member bench, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa observed that high courts have a high level and wondered how such decisions by them can be given value. Justice Khosa lamented how the high court, without examining anything, upheld the trial court’s conviction. The court observed further that the investigation, trial and subsequent decisions burnt everything to ashes, adding that the prosecution had failed to establish a case against the suspects. The court then dismissed the high court order which had upheld the suspects’ death sentences and life terms, noting that they are being exonerated by giving them a benefit of doubt. In April 2011, around 15 people were said to have been killed when unidentified men set fire to a parked bus on the National Highway near Sibi. Police and paramilitary forces had claimed to have arrested three suspects in raids after the incident.
Published in Daily Times, July 20th 2018.
