LAHORE:
The Superior Court of Lahore (LHC) ruled that the testimony of a prosecution witness declared that a proclaimed criminal (PO) can be registered in other cases.
LHC Judge Tariq Salem Sheikh was listening to a case that involved a Husnain Ali Nasir who was a criminal proclaimed in two cases, but his sister had presented a separate case.
Husnain’s sister submitted an application to a judicial magistrate praying to be allowed to register their evidence through the video link, since it is in the United States to receive medical treatment after being injured in an attack.
His application was rejected through an order dated March 28 of last year.
Then, the plaintiff filed a petition before the Additional Sessions Judge of Daska, which was also dismissed on May 29, 2024.
Both courts argued that a “fugitive of the law loses its normal rights.”
They pointed out that Husnain had abandoned the country without the permission of the Court in question and had been declared a criminal proclaimed after due process.
They observed that allowing him to testify through a video link in the case in which he was a wounded prosecution witness would be unfair for respondents, particularly because he was still a criminal proclaimed in two other cases presented in 2019 by the same rivals.
After that, the petitioner Nosheen Ali Nasir challenged the orders before the LHC.
The legal questions that arose for consideration were if the testimony of a witness could be recorded through a video link in criminal procedures and if said testimony could register if the witness were a criminal proclaimed in another case.
The court observed that videoconference is a technological development that allows visual and real -time audio communication between individuals in different places. Its use in judicial procedures, including criminal trials, has expanded considerably in recent years. The courts have adopted it to reduce delays, protect vulnerable witnesses and address logistics or security challenges while maintaining procedural equity.
