Model Courts: No more murder cases pending in 50 districts, says CJP

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa on Wednesday observed that there was no murder case pending in 10 districts due to model courts and the same situation would prevail in 50 districts in the next one month.

He said that the parties involved in any case would be given no more respite in future, which led to unnecessary adjournment of hearings. He expressed these remarks Wednesday while hearing a murder case in the Quetta Registry via video link from the principal seat in Islamabad.

The chief justice said cases were fixed for the purpose of hearing, not for abeyance. Nowhere in the world thepractice of adjournment was encouraged, he added. He said no one would be allowed to delay cases from now onwards. The courts had to acquit suspects over weak or false testimonies, he further added.

The apex court dismissed the appeal filed against acquittal of murder accused Abdul Nasir by the Balochistan High Court. The counsel for the petitioner said the trial court had given life imprisonment along with fine to accused Abdul Nasir, but the high court acquitted him.

The CJ observed that it was alleged that the accused had threatened the deceased to murder him on mobile phone but no call record was submitted. He observed that the confessional statement of accused was recorded in police custody while the son of deceased had become a witness in the case. The chief justice remarked that the courts had initiated action against false witnesses. Proceedings were under way against 15 fake witnesses in different districts, he added.