LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has set aside the judgment passed by the Accountability Court, Rawalpindi/Islamabad against Sadaqat Saeed Malik and acquitted him of the charges.
The Division Bench of Lahore High Court at Rawalpindi Bench consists of Justice Syed Muhammad Kazim Raza Shamsi and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi heard the appeal which was filed by Sadaqat Saeed Malik, owner of M/S Safa International, against judgment dated 12.5.2001 passed by Accountability Court, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, whereby he was convicted under section 10 of the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, 1999 (hereinafter referred to as the Ordinance, 1999) and sentenced to suffer 8 years R.I. He was also awarded fine of $2,45, and in default whereof he would further suffer R.I. for 2 years.
After hearing the arguments and going through the record, the bench observed that how the appellant could be possibly convicted if the members of the Technical Evaluation Committee have been acquitted on the same evidence.
Even otherwise, the crime alleged against the appellant cannot be committed by him alone, therefore, his conviction is also not sustainable. The Court further observed that the prosecution has no reliable evidence on the basis of which it can be proved that he has committed the offence under section 9 and 10 of the Ordinance, 1999. In this view of the matter, the Court allowed the appeal and acquitted the appellant of the charges. The Judgment consisted on 12 pages has been written by the Mr. Justice Ali Baqar Najafi.
