Karsaz accident accused acquitted after out-of-court settlements

karachi: A female SUV driver who had been arrested after her rash driving resulted in the deaths of a man and his daughter on Karsaz Road was acquitted in the accident case on Thursday after a sessions court accepted the out-of-court settlement between her and the victims' legal heirs.

However, the woman's application seeking acquittal in a drug case will come up for hearing before a judicial magistrate on November 2 (tomorrow). On August 19, a speeding luxury car driven by the woman had rammed into three motorcycles and another car before overturning on Karsaz Road, killing Imran Arif and his daughter Amna, and injuring two others.

She was charge-sheeted in two separate cases — one lodged under rash driving and manslaughter charges, while the other under the Section 11 (drinking liable to tazir) of the Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order (PEHO) 1979 after her medical report confirmed that she was under the influence of methamphetamine, also known as ice or crystal meth, at the time of the accident.

On Thursday, Additional Sessions Judge (East) Shahid Ali Memon announced his order on applications jointly filed by the accused as well as legal heirs of the deceased and injured persons under the sections 345(2) and 345(6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, requesting the court to accept their out-of-court settlement.

The judge accepted the compromise between the parties and acquitted the accused. "The applications under Section 345(2) of CrPC is hereby allowed and formal permission is hereby accorded for compounding the offence," ruled the judge. "Resultantly, the application under Section 345(6) of CrPC is allowed and thereby the compromise between the parties is accepted. As such the accused is hereby acquitted in the instant case/crime U/S 345(6) of CrPC."

The accused appeared in the court on bail. Imtiaz Arif, the complainant in the case and brother of deceased Imran, along with Romana Imran, the widow of Imran, and their children Umama Arif and Osama Arif, as well as Shane Alexander and Abdul Salam, who were injured in the accident, filed their separate affidavits along with the applications, stating that they had forgiven the accused in the name of Almighty Allah.

They added that the accident was unintentional and that they had “amicably resolved the matter.” Separately, the accused has filed an application before the judicial magistrate XI (East) under the Section 249-A of the CrPC seeking acquittal in the drug case. The application is fixed for hearing on November 2.