A Peshawar court has acquitted 74 PTI activists in a May 10, 2023 violence case involving two deaths, ruling that the prosecution lacked admissible evidence. The judge said continuing the trial would be a futile exercise.

PESHAWAR: A court in Peshawar has acquitted 74 Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf activists in a case linked to violence on May 10, 2023, in which two people were killed.

Additional Sessions Judge Faraz Ahmad on Monday allowed an application moved by the defence under Section 247-K of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which authorises a court to acquit an accused at any stage of proceedings if there is no probability of conviction.

In his ruling, the judge said the prosecution’s case against the accused was based on bald and unsubstantiated allegations and was not supported by direct, circumstantial, or legally admissible evidence connecting them to the offence. He observed that the court was satisfied there was no probability of the accused persons being convicted of the offence, and continuation of the trial would be nothing but a futile exercise that would only cause unnecessary harassment and amount to abuse of the court process.

Case background

The case was registered at Faqirabad police station in Peshawar and was among several cases lodged across the country between May 9 and 11, 2023, against PTI leaders and workers over violent protests that followed the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.

The first information report was lodged on May 10 by SHO Waris Khan on charges including intentional murder, criminal conspiracy and rioting. According to the FIR, he had received information that 250 to 300 people, along with PTI’s local leadership, opened indiscriminate fire, causing firearm injuries to two men, Javed and Bilal, who later died in hospital.

During the investigation, police nominated and charged 74 suspects, including PTI Peshawar chapter president and Senate by-election candidate Irfan Saleem.

PTI leaders denied the allegations and maintained that both deceased men were party workers who had been killed by police.

Court observations

During proceedings, the legal heirs of deceased Bilal, including his parents and wife, told the court that they had neither accused the suspects nor wished to pursue the case against them. They also said they had no objection to the acquittal of the accused.

Defence counsel Mohammad Adeel Butt argued that the accused had been falsely implicated. He told the court that none of those facing trial had been named in the original FIR and that there was no eyewitness against them. He requested their acquittal on the ground that there was no likelihood of conviction even if the trial continued.

“It is manifested from the record that the accused person neither were nominated in the FIR nor apprehended at the spot, and their implication surfaced only during the course of investigation. No private witness, injured person or eyewitness has come forward to nominate or identify them,” the court noted.

The judge also pointed out that no test identification parade had been conducted, which the court said assumed greater importance because the FIR had initially been registered against unidentified persons.

The judgment further observed that no incriminating article has been recovered from the possession of the accused persons or at their pointation, nor is there any admission or confession attributable to them despite their alleged custody.

At a hearing on Jan 7, the court had already noted that the prosecution and the complainant SHO were showing disinterest in the case.