Karsaz accident suspect possesses valid British driving licence, court told

KARACHI: A sessions court on Wednesday issued notices to the prosecutor and complainant for Friday (tomorrow) on a post-arrest bail application filed by the SUV driver in the Karsaz traffic accident case.

Suspect Natasha Danish has been booked and arrested for recklessly driving an SUV and killing a man and his daughter in an accident on Aug 19.

Her counsel Aamir Mansoob Qureshi filed the bail application before Additional District and Sessions Judge (East) Shahid Ali Memon and submitted that his client had arrived in the country on Aug 2 and she possessed a British driving licence which is valid for six months.

After the hearing, Judge Memon issued notices to the deputy district public prosecutor (East), investigating officer and the complainant for September 6.

Defence says IO sent blood, urine samples to lab after a delay of two days; suspect’s bail pleas to be taken up tomorrow

Meanwhile, another plea was filed on behalf of the suspect before Judicial Magistrate (East) Muhammad Raza Ansari, seeking bail in a drug case.

The magistrate also issued notices to the complainant and the state prosecutor for Sept 6.

The defence counsel submitted in court that his client was innocent and falsely implicated in a case under Section 322 (punishment for qatl-bis-sabab) of the Pakistan Penal Code with “malafide intentions and ulterior motives”.

Submitting medical record of the suspect’s ongoing psychiatric treatment at the Aga Khan Hospital that began 19 years ago, the counsel argued that his client’s “judgment and perception were impaired, rendering her unable to foresee the consequences of her actions”.

“Her [the suspect’s] medical condition significantly diminished her capacity to anticipate the outcomes, making it impossible for her to foresee any potential harm,” Advocate Qureshi said.

He submitted that a well-documented history of psychotic disorders and depression negated any element of criminal intent or recklessness on part of the suspect.

“The alleged incident was not a result of wilful negligence but rather an unforeseen accident possibly exacerbated by her medical condition,” he said, adding that in this matter it was “unjustifiable and excessive” to add Sections 322 and 320 (punishment for qatl-i-khata by rash or negligent driving) of the PPC in the FIR.

Highlighting the “malafide intention” on part of the prosecution, the defence counsel contended that on the day of the alleged incident, the IO had collected the blood and urine samples of his client in the presence of a women medico-legal officer.

After collecting the samples on Aug 19, the IO submitted the samples for examination on Aug 21 with a delay of two days, he said.

“Therefore, the samples so collected could not be said to be in safe custody/ without any break of a chain of safe custody,” he claimed.

The counsel also mentioned that the IO had moved an application before the magistrate on Aug 22 for obtaining blood samples of his client again mainly relying on the ground that he wanted to cross-check the sample with the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences at the Karachi University.

However, the court had dismissed the plea on the ground that he had already awaited a report of blood samples, the counsel said.

Advocate Qureshi claimed that despite being dismissed by the court, the IO had approached the jail authority and collected the blood sample “illegally and unlawfully under his nefarious design just to manipulate the samples to obtain a chemical examiner report of his own choice”.

Submitting the copies of her passport and driving licence in court, the counsel stated that his client possessed British nationality and had a UK driving licence which is valid until 2031.

He claimed that the British driving licence was internationally recognised and valid under Pakistani law for a period of six months after arrival in the country.

The counsel submitted that the applicant had arrived in Pakistan from London on August 2, which means she can drive in the country legally. He argued that the said section of the PPC is “neither applicable nor can be inserted in this case”.

Suspect’s husband gets interim bail

After taking protective bail from the Sindh High Court, Danish Iqbal, husband of suspect Natasha, surrendered before the trial court and moved an application before the sessions court, seeking interim bail on Wednesday.

After hearing his counsel, the court granted him interim bail against a surety bond of Rs100,000.

The court issued notices for September 6 to the deputy district public prosecutor (East) for confirmation or otherwise.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2024