Accused convicted in banned drugs case after forged death certificate exposed
BAHAWALPUR:
The Bahawalpur Treatment Court has passed a significant judgment in a case involving banned and unregistered drugs, imposing a cumulative fine of Rs 40.5 million and seven years in prison on the accused, Muhammad Shafiq.
The verdict was announced by the president of the Treatment Court, who declared the defendant guilty after the trial was completed.
According to the details of the case, the Liaquatpur Drug Inspector had recovered banned and unregistered medicines from the possession of Muhammad Shafiq, son of Bashir Ahmad, a resident of Liaquatpur.
The case was registered as Judicial Case 56/DCB/2019 and had been under trial at the Bahawalpur Treatment Court.
During the trial, the defendant allegedly tried to evade punishment by faking his own death. He presented a false death certificate to the court in an effort to stop the trial.
As a result, court proceedings were temporarily affected.
However, the fraud later came to light when the accused was reportedly involved in a dispute in his locality.
The rival party informed the court that Shafiq was alive and had submitted falsified documents.
Upon discovery of the gross forgery, district and sessions judge and drug court president Shazeb Saeed ordered registration of a separate case.
A forgery case has since been registered against the accused at Cantt police station, Bahawalpur, and investigations are underway.
After examining the evidence in the banned medicines case, the court sentenced Muhammad Shafiq to seven years in prison and a total fine of Rs 40.5 million.
Technical member Dr Abdul Sattar Channar, departmental public prosecutor Misbahuddin and deputy public prosecutor Zeeshan Ahmad Jajja assisted the court during the trial.
Members of civil society and social circles welcomed the verdict and stated that those who endanger human lives through illegal medicines do not deserve leniency and strict legal action should be continued against such violators.
