ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court has ruled that being declared an absconder or fugitive in a criminal case does not, by itself, prevent an individual from pursuing civil or service-related remedies.

In a five-page judgment authored by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, the apex court held that the continuation of criminal liability or the status of a proclaimed offender, "howsoever serious, does not operate to forfeit these indispensable civil entitlements unless the legislature has expressly imposed such a disability".

Justice Shah warned that reading such a bar into the law "would undermine the integrity of the justice system and would, in effect, operate as a double-edged weapon".

"One edge to deprive a citizen of the right of appeal or statutory remedy in matters affecting livelihood, serv

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