ISLAMABAD:A district and sessions court on Tuesday discharged the senior journalist Ayaz Amir from the murder of his daughter-in-law Sarah Inam after finding no evidence against him.
The senior journalist was presented before the Civil Judge Muhammad Amir Aziz as police sought another extension in his remand
The court in its verdict stated that there was no evidence against Ayaz Amir in the police diary.
The police had requested the court to extend the journalist’s physical remand by another five days. The request was made as Ayaz’s remand, which was initially extended for one day on Monday, expired.
Advocate Basharatullah, Nisar Asghar and Malik Zafran, submitted a wakalatnama (power of attorney) on their client’s behalf.
During proceedings of the case, Advocate Basharatullah said the case was registered on September 23, three hours after the incident allegedly occurred.
He said that Ayaz had no connection with the case and that police had no evidence against him.
He said Ayaz was at his residence in Chakwal at the time as he promptly informed the police.
Ayaz Amir had no connection with the house in Shahzad Town Islamabad for the past 35 years, he added.
He argued that there was no evidence against the journalist in the police diary.
Police, he said, had not been able to satisfy the court regarding the basis of which evidence the journalist was arrested.
He urged the court to discharge Ayaz from the case. “We are not trying to evade the probe, but they (Police) got warrants issued and arrested Ayaz Amir,” he said.
The government’s lawyer said points raised by Advocate Basharatullah would be more relevant during the trial. At the remand stage, what was to be considered was which evidence had surfaced, he added.
He said that Ayaz Amir had contacted his son Shahnawaz on Whatsapp and this was the evidence the police had till now.
He said that if at any point police concluded that Ayaz was innocent, it would discharge him.
The judge asked who had nominated Ayaz in the case, the lawyer replied that Sarah’s uncle had nominated him.
The deceased’s uncle, he said, was in Pakistan, he added.
He said that Sarah’s parents had reached Islamabad to perform their daughter’s last rites.
The court asked the lawyer prima facie, what evidence police had against Ayaz Amir?
The lawyer replied that Shahnawaz had contacted him after the murder and Sarah’s parents had all the evidence.
Advocate Basharatullah interjected, highlighting the irony of police arresting an individual first and then looking for evidence.
The government’s lawyer said that the call detail record (CDR) of a Whatsapp call could not be obtained. However, the mobile phone had been sent for forensic analysis, he added.
Advocate Basharatullah said that Police only have to press a button to get CDR.
He asked whether a father contacting his son was enough for enforcing Section 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code. If it was so, police could make everyone who contacted Shahnawaz a suspect, he added.
He said police was saying they would discharge Ayaz if he was proved innocent. But they kept him in custody for days, he said,.
He said police could come and arrest Ayaz with a warrant after collecting evidence against him.
The government’s lawyer said if police intended to fabricate evidence, it would have done it by now. Police was working with complete honesty, he added.
Following that, the court reserved its judgement on the police’s request for an extension in Ayaz’s remand and later ruled that Ayaz Amir should be discharged from the case.