LHC sets aside life term, acquits murder convict after 10 years

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has set aside the life sentence of a man in a murder case and acquitted him after 10 years, ARY News reported on Friday.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has accepted the appeal of a murder convict named Muhammad Yousuf against his life sentence. The verdict was announced by LHC’s Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry on the convict’s appeal.

The lawyer told the court that the verdict of the sessions court was not given in accordance with the law.

After accepting the appeal, the LHC judge acquitted the murder convict.

A murder case had been registered against the accused Muhammad Yousaf in 2011 and the additional sessions judge Bhalwal had pronounced life in prison to the accused in 2014.

READ: SUSPECTS ACQUITTED OF MURDER CHARGE FOR ‘LACK OF SOLID EVIDENCE’

Earlier on November 25, the LHC had acquitted a death row prisoner while expressing reservations over faulty police investigation of the murder case.

A division bench of the high court, comprised of Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan and Justice Shahram Sarwar had acquitted the accused Asif in a written verdict.

“How can an accused awarded sentence over insufficient evidence,” the bench question in its judgment. “The benefit of the doubt goes to the accused”, the bench had said.

“Flawed investigation of police enables accused to get acquitted in courts,” the verdict read.

A murder case was registered against accused Asif in Mandi Bahauddin and a trial court had awarded the death penalty to him.