IHC rejects review plea in Tayyaba torture case

Islamabad

A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) here Thursday dismissed a review application of the additional district & session judge and now OSD Raja Khurram Ali Khan against his indictment and of his wife Maheen Zafar in Tayyaba torture case.  

The division bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb dismissed the application while declaring it non-maintainable.

An IHC single bench, comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, on May 16 had indicted the accused in Tayyaba torture case to which both husband & wife pleaded non-guilty.

In their review application through Raja Rizwan Abbasi, advocate, appellants contended that the single bench orders regarding their indictment may be suspended that IHC division bench had refused.

Legal counsel for the appellants argued before the court that the single bench indicted his clients given the fact that the parents of the affected girl had submitted an affidavit regarding compromise and pardon to the accused. All the allegations leveled against his clients under various sections of the law were compoundable (where reconciliation and compromise could be made) the counsel further argued.

It is to mention here that IHC single bench indicting the accused on May 16 initiated recording of evidence and till now Tayyaba herself and three private witnesses have been examined in this case.

Justice Kayani in his May 10 order regarding indictment of the accused had noted that the provisions of law impose a duty upon the court to consider the details of the case, nature of the offence and benefit of the compounding, even the style of crime and the manner in which the offence have been committed. If the court is of the view that the incident causes terror and sensation in the society or is cruel from its appearance, the court may not agree to compound the offence. The alleged incident gives a brutal, cruel picture as well as causes terror and sensation in the society.”  With these observations the IHC single bench had also dismissed the compromise.

The ADSJ and now OSD Raja Khurram Ali Khan, his wife Maheen Zafar are accused in this matter for allegedly torturing a juvenile housemaid Tayyaba and keeping her in illegal confinement.

Police registered a case against ADSJ and his wife under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including section 337 for injuring, 342 for illegal confinement and 506 for intimidation.