A local court in Karachi has discharged one accused in the Dr Maha case till the final investigation report is submitted by the investigating officer.
Police initially said a young female doctor working at a private hospital in Clifton shot herself in her home on August 18.
Police later named his friend Junaid Khan, Waqas Hassan, Dr Irfan Qureshi and two others in the case under the relevant provisions of the law.
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When the matter came before the Judicial Magistrate (South) for hearing, the investigating officer produced Dr Irfan Qureshi for physical remand.
The investigating officer said that the other two accused Waqas Hassan and Junaid Khan are still at large and requested for more time to trace the fugitives and complete the investigation.
Dr Irfan Qureshi's defense counsel filed a petition in the court seeking discharge of the accused on the ground of lack of evidence.
The lawyer contended that the complainant was a dentist by profession and a respected citizen.
The lawyer claimed that the complainant was arrested due to the malicious intentions of the Station House Officer (SHO) and there was no evidence that the deceased was poisoned.
The petition said that on the day of the incident, the deceased came to the clinic of Dr Irfan Qureshi and after waiting for 4 hours, she left without meeting him and there is a record of a conversation between the two on WhatsApp. ۔
The defense counsel further said that the report submitted by the investigating officer and the death / medical certificates also did not say anything about the type of poison.
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The defense counsel contended that the complainant had not committed any crime and therefore should be discharged from the case.
However, the public prosecutor opposed the request, saying that the complainant was arrested on the statement of the deceased's father and the result of a blood sample report is yet to come.
"There is nothing in front of me at the moment that would link the complainant to the case and that they will definitely face trial," the judge said.
The judge wrote in his order that the allegations against the accused were false and discharged Irfan Ali Qureshi under Section 63 of the Criminal Procedure Code and directed him to submit a PR bond of Rs 500,000.
However, the judge clarified to the prosecution that he has been discharged, which does not mean his acquittal as the final investigation report is also to be submitted to the court.
