KHUDAYAR MOHLA

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought report from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government pertaining to steps taken to eradicate the menace of drugs from educational institutions of the province.

Cancelling a post arrest bail application of a drug peddler in the educational institutions, a three-member bench led by Justice Dost Muhammad Khan questioned whether the government arrested any person involved in selling drugs in colleges and schools or not.

Appearing before the bench, Additional Advocate General KP apprised the court that provincial government has eradicated drugs culture from the educational institutions to which Justice Dost Muhammad Khan expressed concern over supply of narcotics in educational campuses despite of strict security measures.

Justice Dost Muhammad Khan observed that students who are considered future of the nation as they will become doctors, engineers, lawyers and judges, must be kept away from drugs. Later, the bench cancelled bail plea of Muhammad Amjad, an accused in supplying drugs to educational institutions, and directed the trial court to complete adjudication of the accused in two months.

Meanwhile, the same bench acquitted a death sentence convict after 14 years. Prosecution side told the bench that Shaukat Ali had killed a bank guard during a robbery in 2003 in Sargodha, adding that a session court had awarded him capital punishment but later the High Court converted the sentence into life imprisonment. Defending his client, the counsel for the accused argued that that after six years Shaukat Ali met with the wife of bank guard and confessed he had killed him and sought apology from her. After a brief hearing of the matter, the court said the concerned trial court and High Court did not apply judicial mind while hearing the case in hand. Later, the bench acquitted Shaukat Ali on the grounds of insufficient evidence.