Acquittal of accused: CJP takes notice of lack of evidence

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry here Thursday observed that the courts have to acquit accused(s) due to lack of evidences and faulty police investigation which brings bad name to the judiciary.
"Police failure in producing evidences against accused persons compels us to release them unpunished," CJP further observed while expressing displeasure over investigation being carried out in a grenade attack on a Taxila Church in 2002 in which four women were dead and 25 other were injured. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was heading a three-member full bench, which heard appeals of three accused against their conviction in the Church attack case.
At the outset of the second-day hearing the bench realised that the police investigators took the case as a petty crime incident and showed their usual performance, whereas the case required to be investigated by highly skilled officers. The CJP summoned on short notice to Additional Inspector General (AIG) of investigation Mushtaq Sukhera to make him know what his investigators had been doing with high profile cases.
CJP pointing out a number of lacunas in the investigation directed AIG to take effective measures to make the investigation process better. "Terrorist activities have been increasing in Pakistan day by day, therefore we have to adopt modern measures of investigation," CJP added.
CJP directed the AIG to ask his investigating officers to assist prosecutors in cases so that punishment to deserved criminals can be ensured. He lamented that investigating agencies across the world kept on top priority the protection of eye witnesses but in Pakistan nobody dare to testify in courts only to safe his or her life. The bench adjourned further hearing on the appeals till Friday (today) and directed the AIG Sukhera to entrust investigation to a senior police officer and supervise whole procedure himself.
The convicts Saifur Rehman, Muhammad Ayaz, and Abu Bakar were given death sentence by an anti terrorism court Rawalpindi on March 31, 2004. Lahore High Court also confirmed their death sentence on December 12, 2006. They challenged the LHC decision before the SC. According to prosecution, the convicts attacked the church on August 9, 2002 which left four Christian women and 25 other men and women injured.
Counsel for the convicts submitted that they had no role in the attack but they were implicated. He said the complainants identified the accused with malafide intentions of the police. He said the investigators also did not made any progress in investigation after finding dead body of one of the attackers, Kamran Mir from the scene. He said the police also recovered one grenade from him.