Senior actress Atiqa Odho was acquitted by a Rawalpindi civil court last week on August 21 after nine years in a liquor smuggling case.The civil court in Rawalpindi had ruled that there was no evidence against the actress and therefore she was honorably acquitted.
The liquor smuggling case against Atiqa Odho came to light in 2011 when two bottles of liquor were allegedly recovered from her luggage at the Islamabad airport.
Despite the bottles of liquor being recovered, the actress was allowed to go to Karachi by the airport security officials without filing a case against her, on which the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took notice and demanded a report.
The case was later heard in the Civil Court in Rawalpindi in 2015 and he was acquitted.
However, the case was reopened and a petition was filed in the Supreme Court in 2017 stating that no trial court was looking into the liquor case against him on the basis of merit.
He had requested the apex court to direct the trial court to give its verdict in accordance with the law.
The court had restrained the trial court from making any decision till the day after which the civil court in Rawalpindi had honorably acquitted him on August 21.
Atiqa Odho was happy to be honorably acquitted after 9 years in the alcohol smuggling case and said that the painful time for her was over.
The actress recently released a video on social media after nine years of going round the courts and getting justice on the issue of alcohol smuggling alone, in which she explained the real reasons for the delay, including the country’s judicial system. Also talked
In her video, Atiqa Odho reassured Pakistani courts that they were victims of the Pakistani judiciary over the delivery of justice.
The actress said in her video that it is painful for anyone to go round the courts for so many years and they also go through hardships.
Explaining the delay in getting justice, he said that since the higher judiciary had stopped the lower courts from ruling against him, it may have delayed him from getting justice.
The actress said that this is the justice system of Pakistan and sometimes people get justice after death.
He appealed to the judiciary and the government to help those who cannot afford lawyers’ fees, which is why their cases have been pending for years.
He said that the government should provide special assistance to those who cannot afford to pay lawyers due to poverty and the courts should also consider such persons.
Expressing full confidence in Pakistan’s judicial system, he said that as far as he could, he would help other people to get justice.