ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Supreme Court (SC) Justice Malik Shahzad on Friday remarked that court decisions in Pakistan are not made on oaths sworn on the Quran, adding that if that were the case, prisons would be empty.
The SC rejected the pre-arrest bail application of an accused involved in allegedly setting fire to a house and animals belonging to rivals. A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi heard the case, during which Justice Malik Shahzad questioned whether the house and animals had in fact been set ablaze.
A police officer informed the court that both the house and animals were burned, but no bullet casings were recovered from the scene. The complainant’s lawyer argued that the accused wanted to purchase a plot from them, and when they refused to sell it, their house and animals were set on fire.
Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed asked what the police’s open and discreet investigations had concluded. The police officer responded that during a jirga, the accused had sworn an oath on the Quran claiming they had done nothing.
Justice Malik Shahzad remarked that if decisions were made on Quranic oaths, prisons would be emptied, stressing that such oaths are not a basis for verdicts under the law and that police must rely on proper evidence.
The police officer further stated that no one had testified against the accused. In response, Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed observed that no one would burn their own house and animals.
The accused, Amjad Ali, had filed a pre-arrest bail application. A case against him was registered earlier this year in March in the Skardu area.