SHC upholds man’s life term, acquits wife in drug trafficking case

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has upheld the life sentence awarded to a man in a narcotics case while overturning the conviction of his wife, who had been sentenced alongside him by a trial court.

A division bench headed by Justice Omar Sial passed the order while deciding appeals filed by Naseebullah and his wife Bakhtawar against their conviction. The couple had been handed life imprisonment in May 2024 by a sessions court after being found guilty of transporting more than 18 kilograms of hashish in a rickshaw within the limits of Mochko police station in May 2022.

According to the court record discussed in the order, the narcotics were recovered from two sacks placed in the rickshaw being driven by Naseebullah. After hearing the parties and examining the case record and proceedings, the high court found no basis to interfere with the trial court’s ruling in respect of the male appellant.

However, the bench separately examined whether Bakhtawar could be said to have been in conscious possession of the contraband. The court held that there was no evidence connecting her to possession or control of the vehicle from which the hashish was recovered.

The bench observed that there was a strong possibility that Bakhtawar, described in the order as a simple, conservative and rural woman, did not know that her husband was transporting narcotics and may have been used by him as a shield against police checking.

"In the present case, attributing the illicit narcotics found in the rickshaw to Bakhtawar cannot be justified in the absence of any evidence linking her to the possession or control of the vehicle, as the prosecution failed to provide evidence that she was aware of the narcotics in the vehicle. Since she lacked a possessory right in, or control over, the vehicle, it cannot be inferred that she had knowledge of the narcotics," it stated.

The court also noted that Bakhtawar had been confined in jail along with her minor child, and said the harm to the child from any further stay in detention would be greater than keeping her imprisoned.

While maintaining Naseebullah’s conviction, the bench set aside Bakhtawar’s sentence and ordered jail authorities to release her immediately if she was not required in any other case.

During the proceedings, the bench also expressed displeasure over the written submissions filed on behalf of the appellants.

"This court, already inundated with high volumes of appeals, has had everything under the sun thrown at it in the shape of written arguments. No case law has been cited, and the arguments appear to be AI-generated. Such a practice is not appreciated," it stated.

The order leaves intact the life sentence awarded to Naseebullah, while exonerating his wife in the absence of evidence showing that she knew about or exercised control over the narcotics recovered from the vehicle.