Maximum punishment in Karachi Karsaz Road accident case.

A tragic incident on Karsaz Road in Karachi has resulted in the death of two individuals and injuries to three others. The accident, reportedly caused by a woman driving a Toyota in a reckless manner, has sparked significant public interest and demands for justice. The case has raised questions about the legal framework surrounding traffic violations in Pakistan. As a lawyer, I’m here to break down the legal charges and potential consequences involved in this case.

According to Traffic Police Deputy Inspector General Ahmad Nawaz Cheema, the woman was driving extremely negligently when she collided with a motorcycle while turning from Tipu Sultan Road onto the service road of Muslim League House. The car then hit two more motorcycles before overturning and crashing into a parked car. This accident led to the deaths of Imtiaz Arif’s brother and niece.

Imtiaz Arif has filed a police report at Bahadurabad police station, which has led to the registration of an FIR (First Information Report). The FIR includes several charges under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). Here’s a detailed look at these sections:

Legal Breakdown of the FIR

Section 320: Punishment for Qatl-i-Khata by Rash or Negligent Driving

• Definition: This section deals with cases of “qatl-i-khata” (unintentional murder) caused by rash or negligent driving.
• Punishment: The accused can face a sentence of up to ten years in prison along with a monetary compensation (diyat).
• Bailable: Yes.
• Compoundable: Yes. This means that the victim’s family can potentially reach a settlement with the accused.

Section 337-G: Punishment for Hurt by Rash or Negligent Driving

• Definition: This section addresses cases where the rash or negligent driving results in injuries.
• Punishment: The accused may face imprisonment of up to five years or a monetary compensation (arsh or daman).
• Bailable: Yes.
• Compoundable: Yes. The injured parties can potentially settle with the accused.

Section 279: Rash Driving or Riding on a Public Way

• Definition: This section pertains to driving or riding in a manner that endangers human life.
• Punishment: The accused can be sentenced to up to two years in prison, a fine of 3,000 rupees, or both.
• Bailable: Yes.
• Compoundable: No. This means that this charge cannot be settled privately and must be addressed through the legal system.

Section 427: Mischief Causing Damage to the Amount of Fifty Rupees

• Definition: This section covers damage to property caused by mischief.
• Punishment: The accused may face up to two years in prison, a fine, or both.
• Bailable: Yes.
• Compoundable: Yes, but only if the damage is to private property and the matter is settled between the parties involved.

Bailable and Non-Bailable Offences

In this case, all charges against the woman are bailable. This means that she is entitled to bail upon her first appearance before the magistrate, even if she is arrested. The community's concern is that, despite her financial means to pay fines, there is a strong desire for her to face a more severe punishment.

The Severity of Section 320

Section 320 is particularly significant because it involves the highest potential sentence of ten years. However, such a sentence is not automatically applied. It depends on various factors, such as the circumstances of the accident and the driver’s history of traffic violations. In this case, there is currently no indication of habitual violations or racing, which might influence the application of this section.

Divorce Effectiveness Certificate

 Most people undergoing divorce in Pakistan presume that a divorce deed served on wife or a khula decree obtained from a family court is enough to complete the process of divorce. This is wrong presumption. Under Pakistani law, a divorce effectiveness certificate issued by the Union Council or municipality which registered the marriage is proof of final culmination of the marriage. 

A Pakistani American lady married a guy in Islamabad. The guy went to the USA after the wedding. The marriage didnt work and the guy came to Pakistan and divorced the lady. The guy and the lady both didnt inform the concerned office about their divorce. The lady was not aware about the law and the guy was holding a grudge. After a few years, the lady came to Pakistan to marry once again. When she had got married, her former husband took her to the court, alleging that she had committed polygamy as she had married once again while her earlier marriage was intact. The lady approached a lawyer and the first thing the lawyer demanded was the divorce effectiveness certificate, which the lady was clueless about. Meanwhile, criminal proceedings were initiated against the lady. She had to face distress of courts and social stigma. Imagine the plight of the couple who were undergoing this social trauma during their honey moon. 

Later on, the lawyer representing the lady approached Islamabad High Court. The court was kind enough to terminate criminal proceedings against the lady as they were clearly based on malafide of her ex husband. Had the lady obtained dirvorce effectiveness certificate, she would not have to face the harassment on hands of her ex husband. 

Law even provides punishment for the husband who doesn't inform the concerned marriage registering office about the divorce. However, this section like many other sections in law are not much worked upon by courts and lawyers.  

 

Gun review: Glock 19 by Peshawar based gun manufacturer

Recently, there has been an influx of local copies of Glock 19 in Pakistan. It wanted to review one such piece for my blog. A gun enthusiast fan purchased a Glock 19 from a famous gun manufacturer for Rs 40,000/-.

From the outside, the gun is exact replica of original Glock 19. From magazine capacity to checkering on the grip, everything is just Glock. The finish of the receiver is bit dull as compared to shiny surface of the original Glock19. The dull shine is primarily due to reason that local manufacturers are still not close to Glock's patented carbon fiber frames. Localisation of part has its ups and downs. The down side is that manufacturer saves cost at the price of quality. No quality control also makes local gunmakers to experiment with cheap substandard material.

The gun in question didnt fire after three rounds. The striker left very small impressions on primers. I decided to troubleshoot the gun and field stripped it completely. Below are the pictures of internals.

You can see alot of tooling marks inside the slide. Slide is milled into a solid block of metal. A little attention to detail would have polished the slide from inside and remove the tooling marks. Finish of the slide from outside is too good to judge it as local copy. The silver coloured notch is firing pin block safety. It does not allow the striker to hit the bullet until a part of the trigger presses this silver button. I initially suspected that this firing pin block is the culprit which is not allowing the striker to hit the primer.

Slight striker marks on the primers. The ammunition was Chinese red box, which does not have any reputation of having hard primers. The first few bullets that were fired were from the same box of ammunition. 

The part of the trigger assembly which presses the firing pin block. My initial diagnosis was that this part is little low in height and is not pressing the block fully. When you press the trigger, this notch moves upwards while going backwards , pressing the firing bin block.

These are internals of the slide of the gun. I have removed the extractor from the slide, took out the firing pin block and then test fired the gun. Sadly, the gun didnt fire. 

Next step would be to check the spring on firing pin striker. I will also clean the striker assembly to rule out blockage due to fouling, junk and debris in the striker.
Overall experience in terms of locally manufactured/cloned striker pistol is not very impressive. No one would expect the gun to fail at crucial times and leave you at the brutality of a criminal.

Shadow 's death saddens everyone

We brought him home when he was a one month old puppy. He was all black. The brown colour on his legs had not appeared yet. It was February and nights were shivering cold. I had put his cage in the tv lounge. It was his first night away from his parents and siblings.

One month old swag

His mother and father were German shepherds and the size of their clutch was 6. Missing his parents and siblings, he started barking at odd hours of the night. Our TV lounge has doors to all the rooms on the ground floor. Sensing how uncomfortable the sleep would be for the family, I brought him upstairs in my study room. He inspected my room and liked it. When he had gotten tried of roaming in the room and sniffing books lying on the floor, he nestled between my feet. I went to my bed and he came and again slept with my black shoes. It dawned on me that he is missing his siblings and mistaking my shoes as his other puppies. I felt cruel for separating him from his family so early. I kept my shoes in his cage and he slept peacefully whole night.

Since he had not spent much time with other puppies, he developed a habit of biting us. The puppies which spend first three months with the parents and clutch, learn it by instinct that biting is not a good behavior. When he bites other puppies, they make a displeasuring bark, telling the biting puppy that this is not a good behavior. We solved the problem by making a short high pitched cry noise whenever it tried to bite us. He forgot the habit quite soon.

Bonding!

We named him Shadow the next day. He became the best friend and play mate of the children in the family. My son Shafay would go and check on him many times during the day. In the evening we would unleash Shadow and he would happily chase the kids for hours. He also liked the kids more than the adults, because the former would sneak toffees, candies and biscuits to him.

My younger brother Moid was his keeper. He remained like a dotting owner. Giving him food in the morning and evening and often giving him an afternoon snack. 

After becoming part of every family moment during last 6 months. Shadow breathed his last on 10th July 2017. He stopped eating and our folk pet wisdom suspected that its because of very warm weather. We took him to a vet, then admitted him in a veterinary hospital, gave him saline drips, but he died. Shadow’s death brought a shadow of sadness on the whole family and the kids stopped playing in the lawn in the evening.

Weeks before his death!

PS: The parvo virus is preventable. Prima Dog is the name of vaccine which is available in Pakistan. We gave him one dose when he was 3 months old, but were not advised to give another dose. The second dose could have saved his life. Symptoms of parvo are that dog looses appetite, develops diarrhea with blood. 

Humans of Jhelum: Ghulam Rasool Dar

If nicknames came from the most frequently used word by someone in his speech, Ghulam Rasool Dar would have been Ji Jaan Ji. Running a medium sized bicycle shop on a busy road near Bilal Town Jhelum, Dar is keeping the art of decency alive at a work place where young mechanics are

usually called Oye Chotay idher aa. Dar does not employ chotay, instead he has a team of workers who are called with not only their names but also with a ji. So Ibrar is Ibrar Jee and Nauman is Nauman Jee.
Dar makes a client when he or she is usually 3 or 4 years old. The toddler which buys a tricycle from his shop also buys a full sized mountain bike from him. He has a sharp memory.
The census department in Jhelum may not know the number of kids a person has in Dar’s area, but he surely knows that how many kids were born in a family and which kid used the elder siblings’ bicycle. Dar feels proud in the fact that his product served two siblings because of its durability.
Guests are treated at the shop with homemade tea, hot jaleebi from a neighbouring and samosas.

5 must read books for young lawyers

Most of young lawyers pick bad habits during the time they are doing internship with senior lawyers. Not all young lawyers are lucky to join a senior lawyer who is honest, hardworking, learned and true professional. Many end up in the chambers run by seniors who lack some or all of these qualities. As a result, young lawyers also pick those unprofessional habits. Monthly law journals occupy most of the shelf space and time of a young lawyer. These journals contain laws and precedents, whereas young lawyer is more in the need of developing and polishing his court room skills i.e. preparing briefs, cross examination and arguments. Bar councils, unfortunately, are busy with other affairs. A young lawyer has no recourse except to first learn bad habits and spend years in unlearning them. I have compiled a list of books that every young lawyer must read during the first few years of his practice. These books, in no particular order, are:

The Making of a Lawyer By Ch Nazeer Ahmed.

The writer was an eminent defence lawyer. The book is about his early life, hardships in profession and his decision to migrate to another city for better prospects. This book is must read for all those lawyers who are inclined towards defending clients in criminals cases. The writer has mentioned extents to which he went to save his clients from gallows. He has also given tips to lawyers on cross examination and arguments. The book also contains high profile criminals cases of the time which the writer defended.

Art of Advocacy by Tripathi
Slightly advance level books. It contains excerpts from all the leading books written on advocacy skills. Reading this books is like reading all the good books ever written on advocacy. It is hard to get these days. I bought mine from a used book shop at Anarkali for Rs 120. The books is divided into various chapters. The chapter on cross examination is a must read.

Art of a Lawyer By Justice DR B. Malik
This books contains articles from leading lawyer and judges of India and the West on demands of the profession. The books contains a lot of personal accounts and experiences of judges and lawyers in court rooms. The book is divided into three parts. One is on advocacy and second is on cross examination and third is courtmanship. There is a write up by Mr. Justice Munir on Law of Evidence. He has summed up the whole law of evidence in a couple of pages. This book is a gem for all lawyers.

Be a competent lawyer by SM Zaffar:
It is an entry level books written by Mr. SM Zaffar. He has given tips on improving research skills, arguments and handling tense situations in the court rooms. The writer’s other books Meray Mashoor Muqadimay (My famous cases) is also recommended for young lawyers. This book traces the writer’s life from an obscure lawyer defending people in petty cases of bicycle theft to a lawyer of imminence defending his country in the international court of justice.

Novels by Perry Mason:
Someone asked Mr. Ahsan Qadir Shah, legendary defence lawyer hailing from Sargodha, that where from did he develop his amazing cross examination skills. His reply was, “From the novels of Perry Mason.” 

Perry Mason was a former lawyer who turned to fiction writing and wrote some amazing thriller novels. All his novels revolved around an allegation of crime and expert cross examination by the lawyer in the court. I managed to get a few of the novels form an old book shop. The novels explain difference between a good and a bad question during cross examination. They also high light the point where every cross examiner must stop. While reading these novels, there are many instances when the lawyer in the plot exercises what-not-to-ask-in-cross-examination restraint. These novels were written in the year 1933 and 1934. They were and still the most sought after novels by young and ambitious lawyers. 

Norway: The best managed country in world

I visited Norway in August on the invitation of Pakistan Velferds-Organisasjon Norge (Pakistani Welfare Organisation Norway). The first thing I observed after landing at Oslo’s airport is that it is an under-populated country, which gives a deserted look to a Pakistani going there for the first time. I joked with my cousin that is there a curfew put in place in Norway? I was told that population growth rate is extremely low and population is uniformly spread in urban and rural areas as level of civic facilities is uniform across the board.

The moment the PIA’s plane entered Norwegian aerospace, I started spotting numerous fresh water lakes. Wild life and nature is revered in Norway. The Norwegian government believes that nature is essential for the survival of its citizens. Trees are not just plants for them; they are investment for future generations. Not even a single tree can be axed without the permission of the government. Wildlife and jungles are in abundance. The control on air pollution can surprise any Asian visitor. Cargo vessels that enter Norwegians waters are required to shut off their gasoline engines and generators. The coastal authorities provide electricity to the anchoring vessels. 

Using private transport is discouraged. You have to pay a lot of taxes if you take your car to city center. Parking space is scarce. The scarcity of parking and high taxes are compensated by a strong public transport system. The public transport system comprises of electric trains, buses and trams. Trams and buses are the government’s top priority as they have less maintenance cost and can carry people several times beyond their capacity. They have never been considered as a source of income by the government. Trams and trains are as noiseless as can be imagined. 

The government encourages the use of electric cars. The import duty on an electric car is considerably less. There are separate lanes for buses and taxis. These lanes are usually fast as they have less traffic. Electric cars can use the lane reserved for buses. There are no toll taxes for electric cars. 

The long term policy of the government can be witnessed from everywhere. Trees are preferred over shrubs and flowering plants as former provide more oxygen and require little or no maintenance. Being a plant lover, a minutely observed their green belts. You find trees in city centers, along the roads. Green belts, comprising of tall trees, are present where there are dwellings. Tunnels are in abundance. The best ground for making a tunnel is a few minute of a short commute. 

Paper is being abolished. Norway is aiming to eliminate paper money by 2020. The courts are going paperless, which means no file before the judge and no brief in the hand of lawyers. The train tickets are on your mobile phone. 

Norwegians are crazy about health and fitness. If I am asked to write down two most common sights in Oslo, my answer would be gyms and boats. People are super fit. You can see joggers and runners everywhere. Gyms are in abundance. Usually a fully equipped gym and a jogging track are within one kilometer radius of your house. Weekend is usually an outdoor time. One can see boats, bikes, caravans being towed behind the cars on Friday evening. I spotted people doing exercise round the clock and everywhere. It was summer time when I visited. A lot of people were doing skiing training. Having a boat and a hut in jungle are two benchmarks for being rich in Norway. 

Days are very long in the summer and short in the winter. During the twenty days, I spent in Norway, I could not guess the time of the day by looking at the sunlight. What was noon to me, was evening on the clock. Even the few hours of night time were also well lit.

Pakistani community is progressing and well integrated in the society. Khalid Mehmood, a Pakistani by birth, has remained a member of the Oslo city parliament for more than two decades. He has also remained member of the Norwegian Parliament.

Art has a special place in the Norwegian culture. Sculptures can be seen at all the unexpected places. Frogner Park is a large art park in Oslo spanning over 45 hectres. It has bronze and concrete statues of humans in every possible emotion. The most popular among those is a statue of an angry toddler. Due to its small size and popularity among tourists, the statue of angry toddler has been stolen a few times. A high reward on its recovery brings it back every time. Some mischief keeps happening to the little boy. When I visited the park, his one hand was painted in blue colour. 

The country is so well managed that it out-weighs all the management books taught in universities. Those, who think that there are some affairs that are unmanageable, must visit Norway.