Model court dismisses bail application in 17-year-old murder case

A model court has dismissed a bail application of an accused in a 17-year-old murder case.

Tahir, along with his accomplices, was booked for allegedly murdering Zahid Abbasi and injuring his friend Abdul Ghaffar after an argument over a petty issue in Gulistan-e-Jauhar in 2007.

The accused had filed an application before Additional Sessions Judge Aziz Ur Rehman Junejo of the Model Criminal Trial Court (East) seeking confirmation of the interim pre-arrest bail granted to him earlier.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge dismissed the accused's plea, revoking his interim bail. He said the accused approached the court to obtain pre-arrest bail about 17 years after the incident and remained a fugitive from the law for a long period without any plausible reason.

"The alleged offence falls under prohibitory clause and entails capital punishment and bail in such cases cannot be granted in ordinary manner," observed the judge. "Prima facie reasonable grounds do exist to believe that the applicant/accused is involved in the commission of alleged offence until proven otherwise in evidence."

According to state prosecutor Muhammad Ashraf Bhatti, on September 9, 2007, the complainant, Ghaffar, was having tea with his friend Abbasi at an eatery in Gulistan-e-Jauhar when a boy sitting nearby threw water at him, leading to an argument between them. The boy went away and 10 minutes later, returned with six to seven other men, who opened fire on the complainant and his friend with the intention to kill them. As a result of the firing, Zahid was killed and Ghaffar sustained a bullet wound.

The police subsequently arrested two of the accused Shabbir and Adnan while Aziz, Murtaza, Saeed Alam, Tahir, Shafi and Altaf Hussain remained at large.

Shabbir and Adnan stood trial and were acquitted in the present case.

The applicant's lawyer contended that his client was innocent and had falsely been implicated in this case by the complainant in collusion with police. He pointed out that the FIR was lodged after a delay of six hours, for which no plausible explanation had been given by the complainant.

The counsel said his client was unware of the FIR and that he came to know about it when a police party raided his residence for his arrest on July 19.

An FIR was lodged at the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station under the sections 302 (murder), 324 (attempted murder), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.