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Defence counsel

continues arguments

in plane case

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The defence counsel in the October 12 plane conspiracy case said on Tuesday that Section 402-B of Pakistan Penal Code was included in the schedule of offences after the registration of the first information report on November 10, and, therefore, the accused could not be sentenced under this section.

All the accused, including main accused former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, were present in the court. Nawaz Sharif has lost weight and he was looking pale and tired. His brother Shahbaz Sharif too was not looking as fit as usual. Syed Ghous Ali Shah, Rana Maqbool Ahmed, Khaqan Abbasi continued to sit in their chairs calmly. Saifur Rehman sat wide-eyed listening to each and every word of the defence counsel as attentively as was possible. Saeed Mehdi was seen dozing and yawning at times. He continued to wear an expressionless faces throughout the proceedings.

Family members and friends were also present to meet the accused.

Though the defence counsel, Khawaja Sultan Ahmed, had completed his arguments on Monday, he sought permission to discuss Section 402-B PPC from the presiding judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court, Rehmat Hussain Jaffery, which was granted to him.

Sultan said Section 402-B PPC was included in the schedule of offences on December 3, 1999, as against the registration of the case on November 10, 1999. He quoted from a number of decisions taken by the high courts and Supreme Court of Pakistan where such inclusions of sections were not entertained by the superior courts. Inclusion of such sections after the registration of the FIR was not worth taking into consideration, he added.

He said there were contradictions and anomalies in the statements of prosecution witnesses. The evidence and statements did not provide reliable ground to establish charges against the accused.

Sultan said the recording of statements by Nawaz Sharif and others without taking oath should not be taken as acceptance of charges levelled against them.

He said the witnesses were coerced to give evidence as they were under detention of sorts.

Had Gen Pervez Musharraf been called to the witness box, the story of the case would have been entirely different, Sultan said.

The defence counsel said that the statements of the PWs and inclusion of Section 402-B PPC in the schedule of offence did not meet the requirements of justice and fairplay.

Manzoor Ahmed Malik, counsel for the former inspector general of Sindh police, Rana Maqbool Ahmed, said there were many contradictions and anomalies in the evidence.

He said according to the statement of Rukhsar Ahmed, the IGP and the former adviser to the prime minister on Sindh affairs Syed Ghous Ali Shah, reached the airport at 7:20 p.m., whereas, the former DIG Karachi, Akber Arain, had recorded in his statement that the two had reached the airport at 7:35 p.m. The complainant in his statement had said that it was at 6:45 p.m. that he saw Ghous and Rana in the VIP lounge at the airport.

Malik said his client was innocent and had not hatched any conspiracy. How could my client sitting in Karachi hatch a conspiracy just within three hours in collaboration with others in Islamabad? He asked, and added that there should be a reasonable ground and joint intention of the conspirators to achieve their objective.

Rana Maqbool and Ghous Ali Shah were in Karachi and they had no knowledge of what had been happening inside the Prime Minister House in Islamabad.

He read out the statements of PSO Rukhsar Ahmed, SSP Nawabshah Ehsanullah Gondal and airport manager Nawabshah Mohammad Suleman and said those were baseless and fabricated.

Manzoor Ahmed Malik will continue his arguments on Wednesday.