The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the plea for the acquittal of Ali Awan, who was convicted in the case of acid throwing on a woman named Shakeela in Islamabad in 2010.
A three-member bench, headed by Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik, and comprising of Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Qazi Mohammed Amin Ahmed, heard the case.
Supreme Court turns down acquittal plea of acid attack convict #ARYNewshttps://t.co/owOFBhKQyh #Karachi #Pakistan #News
— News Journal (Save Life Foundation Inc.) (@newsjournalpak) October 17, 2019
Justice Manzoor Malik, during the proceedings, asserted that the crime of throwing acid on the woman is a brutal crime. The apex court maintained the sentence and dismissed the acquittal plea.
Speaking on the heinousness of the crime, added that the offense of throwing the acid on the lady is beyond pardon. It is better to shoot someone than to deface for life by throwing acid.
Read more: No mercy: Acid attack bigger crime than murder, CJP Khosa
He added that the emotional and psychological pain, a woman or any other person, after losing the face they cherished is indescribable.
He dismissed the argument that the victim has implicated the accused in the case. Justice Manzoor retorted, argued that why not extend the punishment of the accused.
The Supreme Court of #Pakistan has ruled that even if the victim of an acid attack ‘forgives’ the attacker no leniency will be shown by the courts for purposes of sentencing. An excellent decision by #SCP : https://t.co/Hkw90eI8yT
— Ilhan Niaz (@IlhanNiaz) July 11, 2019
The counsel of the accused maintained that she does not want to extend the punishment of her client upon which the court rejected the appeal of the accused.
Earlier, the accused stormed the house the victim and threw acid on her in 2010, which led to the 10-year imprisonment of the accused.
Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had already announced to refrain from practicing clemency in the cases of acid attack.
Read more: Acid attack victim Resham Khan shares recovery pictures on social media
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa is cherished for raising the bar of performance of Pakistan’s legal system.
He, himself, refused to pardon an accused in another acid attack case. He, while dismissing an acquittal plea of a man convicted on charges of throwing acid on a woman remarked that “burning someone with acid is a bigger crime than murder.” In a historic decision, CJP Asif Saeed Khosa rejected the acquittal plea of the acid attacker, Javed Iqbal, who was “pardoned” by the victim.