LAHORE - Finally, a 74-year-old prisoner have succeed to get justice, what his sons say, just before his death as a Lahore High Court division bench has acquitted Bashir Bhatti, murder accused, by deciding his appeal after a period of 10 years.
The relatives of the citizen and his counsel have held judicial system, responsible for adding miseries in his life.
An anti-terrorism court of Rawalpindi had awarded death sentence to Bashir Bhatti on murder charges in 2004 while he had been in jail since 2002. He was one of four accused tried on charge of murdering three persons in Gojar Khan.
Bashir Bhatti was acquitted on July 30, 2009 by LHC four and a half years ago, but the PCO judges who heard his case were shown the door very next days before they could write down their ruling.
Both judges, Justice Mian Najamuz Zaman and Justice Rana Zahid Mahmood, had granted bail to Bashir while announcing the verdict in open court. However, the judges neither issued a short order nor handed down the detailed judgment before leaving their charge, which left Bashir at the mercy of the judicial system. He remained the rolling stone in the various benches of the LHC for 10 years.
On Tuesday, the LHC division bench headed by Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi concluded hearing on Bhatti’s appeal by holding that there was no evidence about the accused involvement in the murder of three persons.
Talking to The Nation, Advocate Azam Nazir Tarar and Asif Bhatti, son of Bashir, held the judicial system responsible for the 10-years delay in resolving an already decided appeal.
“Frankly speaking, I am just happy as my father got justice before his death,” Asif said. He added that the provision of justice to the masses was still a dream despite the independence of the judiciary.
“There is speedy justice only for influential personalities of Pakistan, but it is far away from the deprived public,” Asif added.
Garment City: A Lahore High Court division bench on Tuesday dismissed appeals challenging a single bench decision wherein several petitions against establishment of Garment City on Sheikhupura Road were dismissed.
As hearing started, the appellants through their Advocate Dr Basit had pleaded that the single bench dismissed their writ petitions without going into details of the case. The counsel said that the bench had failed to understand the miseries of the farmers especially going to be affected by the Punjab government’s project. He argued that occupying the properties was a violation of the Land Acquisition Act. He pointed out that issuing of a second notification just after the first notification was tantamount to the malafide of the provincial government. It also showed that the government wanted to reward some blue-eyed personalities through this project, the lawyer further argued. He alleged that the big landholders had been ignored while the small property holders had been targeted in acquiring the land. Representing the Punjab government, acting advocate general Mustafa Ramday said that the project was not designed in few days, but by the
Punjab Industrial Estate after thorough consultation with the experts.
He added that the government was starting industrial projects after the country had gotten GSP Plus status. He claimed that the government wanted to provide employment opportunities to the common men. The bench comprising Justice Aminud Din Khan and Justice Shahid Hameed Dar dismissed the appeals after hearing the arguments of all sides.
Election Tribunal: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday stopped election tribunal from continuing proceedings on election petition against PTI MPA from Lahore Murad Raas.
The LHC issued this order on a petition filed by Raas challenging proceedings against him by election petition.