FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN vs MEHMOOD AHMED KHAN
This appeal was filed by the Federation of Pakistan challenging the acquittal of the respondent, a PIA maintenance employee, by the Special Judge (Customs and Taxation), Karachi, in a case involving the smuggling of 652 slabs of gold found on an aircraft. The core legal question was whether 'secret information' received by a Customs Inspector from an informer constitutes sufficient evidence to sustain a criminal conviction for smuggling. The High Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the trial court's acquittal was correct. The Court ruled that while secret information may serve as a tool for Investigating Officers to detect crimes and gather evidence, it cannot be treated as substantive evidence in court without the examination of the informer. Because the prosecution relied primarily on this unverified secret information and failed to produce sufficient corroborating evidence, the conviction could not be sustained. The judgment reaffirms the principle that hearsay or unverified secret intelligence, absent the testimony of the source, is legally insufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal proceedings.
- Can secret information received by an investigating officer be used as substantive evidence to convict an accused?
- Is the testimony of an informer necessary if the prosecution relies on secret information as the primary evidence?
- Does the failure to examine an informer invalidate a conviction based solely on secret information?
ORDER
' Customs Inspector Abbas Ali Abbasi, on receipt of some secret information, raided on an aircraft of PIA, having registration No,BCJ, at Karachi Airport, just after its arrival from Dubai, as Flight No,PK- 214, and secured 652 slabs of gold total weighing 6520 Tolas concealed in its toilet. According to him he had received credible information that the respondent, who at that time was serving in the maintenance wing of PIA, was involved in the smuggling of the gold and would have removed the same from the aircraft at opportune time.
2. After a protracted trial, extendingover a period of 15 years, the Special Judge (Customs and Taxation), Karachi by his order dated 26-4-2007 acquitted the respondent by holding that the prosecution had failed to prove the charge.
3. To a query, learned counsel for the appellant states that the main evidence against the respondent is the credible information which the customs inspector had received from his informer. I am afraid the information cannot be relied upon without examining the informer. Such secret information can be used by the Investigating Officers only for their guidance to detect the crime and collect evidence. A secret information, however credible it may be, cannot be legally used, as evidence. In such circumstances, the trial Court has rightly acquitted the respondent for want of sufficient evidence against him, and its judgment is unexceptionable. The appeal, being meritless, is dismissed summarily.