The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday rejected a plea by former member of provincial assembly (MPA) Abdul Majeed Khan Achakzai to transfer his case from an anti-terrorism court (ATC).
Achakzai is accused under Section 322 of the Anti-Terrorism Act for running over and killing a traffic police sergeant in June last year. While heading a three-member bench hearing the case, Justice Gulzar Ahmed said if the case is tried in an anti-terrorism case, then a compromise cannot be reached and Achakzai will be tried for the crime.
Earlier, the case was transferred from Balochistan High Court (BHC) to the ATC and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) leader was granted bail. Police had initially registered an FIR against an unknown accused. Achakzai was arrested after a video of the incident went viral on social media, prompting authorities to take action against the legislator. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had taken a suo moto notice of the incident on June 28, 2017, and sought a detailed report from the Balochistan police.
Published in Daily Times, November 17th 2018.
