Summary Lahore High Court acquits court official Muhammad Khalid Rashid 15 years after a missing judicial file case was registered, overturning his conviction and fine.
LAHORE (Muhammad Ashfaq) — The Lahore High Court has acquitted court official Muhammad Khalid Rashid, who had been convicted in a case involving the disappearance of a judicial file, 15 years after the case was registered.
Justice Muhammad Amjad Pervez accepted Khalid Rashid’s appeal and set aside the trial court’s conviction and fine, observing that the prosecution had failed to prove the charge against him. The court described the case as one in which there was no evidence to establish the offence.
In a 15-page written judgment, Justice Amjad Pervez held that establishing criminal intent was essential to proving an offence. The judgment stated that merely committing an act does not make a person guilty, as criminal intent is a necessary element of a criminal offence.
According to the judgment, Kasur police registered a case against Muhammad Khalid Rashid on March 12, 2011. The trial court convicted him in 2018 and sentenced him to two years in prison along with a fine, after which he approached the Lahore High Court.
The judgment noted that a departmental inquiry did not find Khalid Rashid guilty of corruption but held him responsible for negligence and incompetence. The court observed that the inquiry report did not support the prosecution’s case and instead undermined it.
Justice Amjad Pervez further observed that the departmental documents relied upon by the trial court had not been legally proved. The authors of the departmental inquiry report were also not produced as witnesses during the trial.
According to the judgment, the investigating officer failed to properly investigate Khalid Rashid’s position and proceeded with the investigation while already considering him guilty. The missing judicial file was also not recovered from his possession.
The Lahore High Court concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove the charge against Khalid Rashid and therefore his conviction could not be sustained. The court accepted his appeal and acquitted him of the charges.
The 15-page judgment also laid down important legal principles concerning criminal intent and the requirement to establish criminal charges through legally admissible evidence.
