Lahore (Staff Report): The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday acquitted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) MNA Chaudhry Abid Raza in a case involving the killing of six people.
A two-member bench of the LHC comprising Justice Sardar Shamim Ahmad and Justice Shehbaz Rizvi set aside the death sentence awarded to him by the trial court.
The court had earlier reserved the verdict on an appeal filed by Raza against the decision of a trial court.
“An agreement has been signed between the two parties. The decision to acquit the accused was based on the agreement,” Abid’s lawyer said.
A trial court had sentenced Raza in 1999 under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) for murdering six people. The conviction was challenged before the LHC but was dismissed when both parties reached a compromise. The death sentence was revoked in 2003 by a division bench.
In 2016, the Supreme Court suspended the 2003 judgement and remanded the case to the LHC.
Last month, the LHC bench that was hearing the case, had appointed a criminal law expert as amicus curiae (friend of court) to decide whether an offence under Section 7 of the ATA was compoundable (reconcilable).
