PHC Rejects Bail Plea of Lawyer in Honour Killing Case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday dismissed the bail petition of a lawyer charged with honour killing and directed the trial court to decide the case within six months.

A single bench of PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan dismissed the bail petition of the accused Yousaf Shah hailing from Mardan district. He had been charged with double murder. Fazal Elahi, appearing for the complainant, submitted before the court that the daughter of the accused had eloped with one Mohammad Ilyas and the couple had fled abroad for fear of being killed.

He submitted the accused, who was a senior lawyer killed the aged parents of the Mohammad Ilyas, when he couldn’t track down the fleeing couple. Additional Advocate General Mian Arshad Jan opposed the release of the accused on bail and submitted that he had killed the innocent parents of Mohammad Ilyas.

He contended the accused should have hunted down the girl and boy if he wanted to take revenge.He said the petitioner absconded for seven months after the killings, but was arrested. He said two brothers of the accused Murad and Faqir Muhammad, who had abetted him, were still at large.

The officials at the Takht Bhai Police Station had charged the accused and his brothers with double murder committed on March 15. The police arrested the prime accused Yousaf Shah on November 13.

However, his counsel submitted that the petitioner was a senior lawyer and the evidence collected from the spot didn’t prove the charges against him and requested the court to release him on bail.

The bench after hearing arguments from both the sides and state lawyer dismissed the bail petition and directed the trial court to decide the case within six months as challan had also been submitted by the Prosecution Department.

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