In order to tighten the noose around fake witnesses, the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday issued notices to two witnesses for wasting the time of the court through false testimonies in a murder case.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa heard a murder case and issued notices to DPO Sargodha to present the two fake witnesses- Zaffar Abbas and Maqsood Hussain - on October 28.
The top judge said that the punishment for false testimony in a murder case is life imprisonment, adding strict legal action will be taken against those involved in false testimony.
He categorically said that the court will not spare all those involved in false testimony as these people have destroyed the justice system of the country.
Justice Khosa said that both the persons who gave false testimony in the murder case were not present at the site where the murder took place, and despite that these witnesses misled the court.
He said that the witnesses through a concocted story appeared in court as witnesses, due to which the apex court declared the high court verdict null and void and acquitted Zulfikar Hussain Shah.
He said that the trial court had awarded death sentence to Zulfikar Hussain Shah, while another accused in the case Jafer Shah was exonerated.
He said that then a high court converted Zulfikar Hussain Shah's death sentence into life imprisonment.
The case was related to one Iqrar Hussain Shah who had been killed in a knife attack in Sargodha in 2011.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019