The Supreme Court has issued a written decision upholding the acquittal of individuals accused of kidnapping for ransom in a 2007 case.
While affirming the verdict, the court's observations shed light on wider concerns within the legal system, including:
- Judges have a responsibility to ensure the protection of fundamental rights of every person
- Judges are bound by decisions on the Constitution and law without fear, pressure and honesty
- The job of a judge is to apply the Constitution and law according to the facts of the case.
- All vacant posts of judges across the country should be filled immediately
- Cheap and prompt justice is a constitutional right of every citizen
- Judges should hear cases with an open mind
- There are no doubts about the character of a judge, and there can be many reasons for delivering wrong decisions
- There should be no exception for a judge who pronounces a decision against facts and the law
- A judge should know his powers and use them to reach the right decision
- Due to poor investigation, many criminals get away and the innocent are punished
- It is the responsibility of the trial court to ensure a fair trial under articles 9 and 10A of the Constitution
- If a crime is not proven, the trial court can acquit the accused at any stage
- In most cases, the main accused are acquitted due to poor investigation
- Sometimes the investigation is flawed, sometimes the non-cooperation of witnesses becomes the reason for the acquittal of the accused
- Lack of any mechanism to protect witnesses is also a major reason for non-cooperation
- The nomination of several accused on the part of the plaintiff out of a personal grudge is also a reason to protect the guilty
- In the current case, the accused were in jail for seven years. They were acquitted, but they did not get justice in time
- There is no mechanism to compensate the accused for the seven years as well as their legal costs
- It is the duty of the government to prevent registration of unnecessary and false cases
- It should be ensured that those filing false cases do not escape justice
- The eight-page judgment was written by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel
A case was registered against the suspects in 2007 on charges of kidnapping for ransom in Bahawalnagar. The trial court convicted the accused in 2011, while the high court acquitted them in 2015. Later, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal against the acquittal on October 27 last year.
