Explaining the axiom that an accused is the “favourite child of law”, the Supreme Court has stated that the concept is based on farsightedness and prudence that calls for protecting an innocent person from getting punished.
“The substratum of this concept is based on farsightedness and prudence. [it says that] ‘let a hundred guilty be acquitted but one innocent should not be convicted’; or that it is better to run the risk of sparing the guilty than to condemn the innocent,” said a recently-issued nine-page written order.
The bench, led by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail upheld the high court judgement, noting that there is a need to assess and scrutinize whether the police and prosecution have performed their tasks accurately and diligently in order to apprehend and expose the actual culprits.
