Lahore:
Lahore High Court (LHC) has decided that testimony from a prosecution quarters declared that a proclaimed offender (PO) in other cases can be registered.
LHC Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh heard a case involving a Husnain Ali Nasir, a proclaimed offender in two cases, but his sister had filed a separate case.
Husnain’s sister filed an application for a judicial magistrate and asked that he be allowed to register his proof through video link, which he is in the United States for medical treatment after being injured in an attack.
Her request was rejected through an order dated March 28 last year.
The complainant then filed a petition for the additional sessions, Judge of Daska, who was also rejected on May 29, 2024.
Both courts found that a “refugee from the law loses its normal rights”.
They noted that Husnain had left the country without the permission of the court in question and had been declared as a declared offender after proper process.
They observed that allowing him to testify via video link in the event he was a wounded prosecution quarters would be unfair to the respondents, especially because he remained a proclaimed offender in two other cases filed in 2019 by the same rivals.
Then, Nosheen challenged Ali Nasir the orders before LHC.
The legal issues that arose for consideration were whether a witness’s testimony could be recorded through video link in criminal cases and whether such testimony could be registered if the witness was a declared offender in another case.
The court noted that video conferencing is a technological development that enables real -time visual and sound communication between individuals in different places. Its use in litigation, including criminal litigation, has expanded significantly in recent years. Courts have adopted it to reduce delays, protect vulnerable witnesses and address logistical or security challenges while maintaining procedural justice.
