By Abid Usman
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday acquitted a murder accused after 13 years for lack of evidence.
A three-member bench of the apex Court, headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, heard the petition filed by the accused against the life sentence handed down to him.
The court, in its decision, said that a trial court had already acquitted two other accused in the case, and Rafaqat Ali could not be convicted on the grounds on which these two persons had been set free. Ayesha Tasneem, counsel for Rafaqat, on the occasion argued that two accused in the case had already been released from jail, and there was no eyewitness to the incident.
The accused had been arrested in Lahore in 2009 in connection with the murder of Mirza Mubbashar Beg.
While the trial court had handed down death penalty to Rafaqat, it acquitted the other two. Later, the Lahore High Court (LHC) commuted the death sentence awarded to him to life sentence following which he went to the SC where he challenged the high court’s verdict.
