Supreme Court Acquits Two Brothers After 20 Years

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has acquitted two brothers, Abdul Aziz Khan and Mangla Khan, after ruling that the prosecution failed to present credible evidence linking them to the 2005 bombing outside Karachi’s PIDC House.

The Court set aside the convictions earlier upheld by both the trial court and the High Court. It also dismissed a petition challenging the acquittal of another accused, Abdul Hameed Bugti.

According to the judgment, a vehicle-borne bomb exploded outside the PIDC House on November 15, 2005, killing five people, injuring more than 20, and damaging nearby banks, a KFC outlet, and surrounding buildings.

The Supreme Court noted that the prosecution’s key witnesses—Traffic Constable Muhammad Ashraf and taxi driver Zaheer Shah—failed to prove their presence at the scene, and their statements contained major contradictions.

The identification parade was also declared unreliable due to the combined lineup, inappropriate dummies, and the fact that the accused were already in police custody.

The Court rejected the alleged judicial confessions, citing evidence of coercion, prolonged custody, delay, and lack of specific details about the crime.

The judgment further observed that while complete CCTV footage from cameras installed outside the PIDC House existed, investigators produced only a limited portion showing events after the explosion.

The Court said the failure to present the best available evidence raised suspicion that crucial material was intentionally withheld.

Criticizing severe investigative lapses, the Supreme Court noted that despite the gravity of the terrorism case, police failed to follow basic investigative standards. It lamented that the two men—aged 27 and 37 at the time of their arrest—spent 20 years in prison based on weak and deficient evidence.

The Supreme Court therefore overturned the convictions and ordered the honourable acquittal of Abdul Aziz Khan and Mangla Khan.