ISLAMABAD: Newly-appointed Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, hearing his first case as the top judge on Friday, dismissed an appeal seeking a reduction in sentence awarded in a drug smuggling case.
The appeal was moved by Noor Muhammad, a resident of Mianwali, challenging sentence awarded by the Lahore High Court (LHC) in 2016.
CJP Khosa observed that the culprit was arrested over peddling of 2100 grams hashish and the trial court had awarded four-and-a-half-year sentence which was later maintained by the high court.
He also observed that witnesses in the case were government employees who had no enmity with the culprit. Moreover, the concerned laboratory had also confirmed the samples of the drugs, he further observed. Maintaining LHC’s decision, he rejected the appeal.
Senior Judges of the superior judiciary from Nigeria, India, Canada and Turkey arrived with the 26th chief justice of Pakistan to attend the court proceedings in the courtroom Number 1 as international observers while Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Ali Khan welcomed them.
CJP Khosa replaced Justice (r) Mian Saqib Nisar after his retirement on January 17.
Khosa, 64, will serve as the chief justice for almost 11 months and will retire on December 20 this year.
