KARACHI: A Karachi court on Tuesday acquitted Sindh Senior Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon and five co-accused in a case involving the alleged recovery of liquor bottles from his hospital room in 2018.
Judicial Magistrate South announced the verdict, observing that the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish the charges against the six accused.
The co-accused included Memon’s employees and prison officials. The court ruled that the police and prosecution had not presented concrete evidence proving their involvement in the alleged offence.
During the hearing, Memon’s lawyer argued that forensic and medical reports had confirmed that the bottles recovered from the room contained honey and olive oil, not liquor.
The defence maintained that the allegations were baseless and that the available forensic evidence did not substantiate the prosecution’s claims.
The case originated on September 1, 2018, when then Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar paid a surprise visit to a hospital in Karachi’s Shirin Jinnah Colony, where Memon was receiving treatment while in judicial custody.
At the time, the hospital room occupied by Memon had been declared a sub-jail. During the visit, the then chief justice claimed that three liquor bottles had been found in the room.
Following the incident, Memon was transferred to Karachi Central Jail, while Boat Basin police registered a case against him and three of his employees under Section 4 of the Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order, 1979, which deals with the possession of intoxicants.
Two individuals were later detained in connection with the alleged recovery. One of them reportedly maintained that the bottles contained honey and cooking oil rather than alcoholic beverages.
After eight years of proceedings, the court acquitted all six accused, concluding that the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations against them beyond the available evidence.
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