IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN 
(Appellate Jurisdiction) 
 
 
PRESENT:  
Mr. Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik 
Mr. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah 
Mr. Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed 
 
Criminal Appeals No.17-P & 18-P/2013 
(against the judgment dated 24.7.2007 passed by 
the 
Peshawar 
High 
Court, 
Peshawar 
in 
Crl.As.599/2006). 
 
The State  
(in both cases) 
…Appellant(s) 
VERSUS 
Imran Nazir 
Muhammad Yousaf 
(Crl.A.17-P/2013) 
(Crl.A.18-P/2013) 
…Respondent(s) 
 
 
For the Appellant(s) 
: Mr.Muhammad Tariq Khan, ASC 
 
 
 
For the Respondent(s) 
: N.R 
 
 
 
Date of Hearing 
: 29.04.2019 
 
Judgment 
 
Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, J.- Arisen out of the 
same backdrop with a common thread, the captioned appeals are 
being decided through this single judgment.  Way back on 
30.6.2004, Anti Narcotics Force, Peshawar on a tip off intercepted 
a Punjab bound truck bearing registration No.PRC-6168. Upon 
search, 2800 kilograms of charas was recovered from secret 
cavities of the vehicle; the respondents were apprehended and sent 
to face trial before the learned Judge, Special Court (CNS), 
Peshawar; they were returned a guilty verdict under Section 9 (c) of 
the Control of Narcotics Substances Act, 1997 and sentenced to 
imprisonment for life along side fine of Rs.500,000/- or to undergo 
five years S.I. in the event of default with benefit of Section 382-B 
of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The vehicle was forfeited in 
favour of the State. A learned division bench of the Peshawar High 
Court vide impugned judgment dated 24.7.2007 acquitted the 
respondents from the charge vires whereof are being challenged 
through leave of the Court on the ground that there was no 
occasion for the learned High Court to acquit the respondents 
Criminal Appeals No.17-P & 18-P/2013 
2
merely on the ground that the prosecution witnesses failed to point 
out as to who was on the wheel when ANF contingent surprised 
them.  
2. 
 
A huge quantity of contraband notwithstanding we 
have not been able to take exception to the view taken by the 
learned High Court inasmuch as in the presence of two individuals 
in 
the 
cabin 
it 
was 
incumbent 
upon 
the 
witnesses 
to 
unambiguously point out the person on the vehicle in order to 
establish conscious possession of the seized stuff and in the face of 
wavering positions taken by the prosecution itself, respondents 
cannot be denied the benefit of the doubt, a golden thread in our 
criminal jurisprudence. We do not feel inclined to interfere with the 
impugned judgment, however the forfeiture of vehicle impounded 
by the ANF is kept intact. Appeals are dismissed. 
     
 
 
 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
 
Islamabad, the 
29th of April, 2019 
Ghulam Raza/* 
JUDGE 
 
