The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) has acquitted three men who were sentenced to death for their alleged involvement in the 2014 killing of a Christian couple at a brick kiln in Kasur’s Kot Radha Kishan over blasphemy allegations, after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
A 26-page detailed judgement issued on Thursday said that the three men were given the “benefit of doubt” and ordered to be released if they were not required in any other case. The court also rejected the state’s appeal against the acquittal of 102 other suspects in the case.
The appeals were heard by a three-member bench headed by Justice Shahzad Ahmad Khan and comprising Justices Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Shakeel Ahmed.
The three men had challenged a Lahore High Court (LHC) ruling issued on May 16, 2019, which upheld the death sentences awarded to them by an Anti-Terrorism Court on November 23, 2016.
The SC judgement, authored by Justice Khan, said that the prosecution had failed to prove the case against the petitioners beyond a shadow of doubt.
The court also acknowledged the “shocking and brutal” nature of the crime but said that the severity of an offence could not replace the requirement for reliable evidence before imposing a death sentence.
The incident took place on November 4, 2014, when a mob estimated at between 400 and 1,000 people attacked the Christian couple, who were working as bonded labourers at a brick kiln. The couple had been accused of blasphemy.
According to the FIR [First Information Report], the mob removed the roof of the office where the couple had taken shelter, dragged them outside and tortured them before throwing them into the kiln furnace. Both victims were burned to death.
The police team that reached the site was outnumbered and came under attack, while witnesses, including relatives of the victims, were unable to intervene.
In its judgement, the SC said that contradictions in the prosecution’s evidence were central to its decision to acquit the three men.
“Though there is no compulsion that an FIR should be lodged only by the legal heir/relative of the deceased, usually in our society, the legal heirs/relatives of the deceased become the complainant,” the court said.
It noted that none of the victims’ relatives had become complainants in the case or signed any memo as witnesses.
“These facts suggest that, in fact, eye-witnesses related to the deceased were not present at the spot at the time of occurrence,” the judgement stated.
The court also noted that one of the acquitted men, whom witnesses had identified as the person who threw the victims into the fire, was not named in the FIR.
It said it was “unbelievable” that witnesses would have given his name to police but that it was not recorded in the FIR.
The judgement further pointed to a “lack of independent corroboration” of the allegations against the three petitioners. It said that where witnesses falsely implicate several accused, convictions based on the same evidence cannot be considered reliable without independent corroboration.
The court also noted that none of the petitioners had suffered burn injuries or were found wearing the protective wooden shoes and wet clothes required for working near the furnace.
According to the judgement, these circumstances created a “reasonable doubt about their involvement”.
The SC reiterated that the “benefit of doubt” is a right rather than a concession and said an accused must be acquitted if even a single circumstance creates reasonable doubt about their guilt.
It converted the jail petition into an appeal, allowed it and set aside the decisions of the lower courts.
The three men were acquitted of all charges and ordered to be released immediately.
The court also dismissed the state’s appeal against the acquittal of 102 other accused, finding “no material illegality or misreading of evidence in the lower courts’ decisions to acquit them”.
It further noted that no appeal had been filed by the legal heirs of the deceased against the acquittals.
