Daily Times

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered a retrial of Shahzeb Khan’s murder case in sessions court after rescinding punishments previously awarded to Shahrukh Jatoi and three others.

The SHC made the decision while hearing a criminal review application submitted by Shahrukh Jatoi’s lawyer. Advocate Farooq H Naek submitted the application in August 2016, praying for a retrial of the case in a juvenile court.

Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon had sentenced co-accused Shahrukh Jatoi and Nawab Siraj Talpur to death in 2013. Siraj’s younger brother Sajjad Talpur and his worker, Ghulam Murtaza Lashari, were awarded life imprisonment for their involvement.

After the sentencing, Shahzeb’s parents had issued a formal pardon to convicts.

Shahrukh Jatoi’s counsel argued that Shahzeb’s murder had been the result of a personal enmity and should not have been tried in ATC.

During the hearing, Naek argued that his client was a juvenile at the time when crime was committed and, therefore, he should not have been tried under anti-terrorism laws.

The Sindh prosecutor general, countering the arguments, pointed out that the SHC had still not approved pardon issued by Shahzeb’s parents. Since a final decision had not been made, the case could not be restarted, he argued.

Justice Salahuddin, who was presiding over proceedings, expressed surprise at the remarks, saying that as the case was tried in ATC and included clauses of terrorism, granting a pardon should not have been possible in the first place.

The justice however said the case could be sent for a retrial in a sessions court.

20-year-old Shahzeb Khan, son of Police Deputy Superintendent Aurangzeb Khan, had been gunned down in Defence Housing Authority on the night of December 24, 2012 when he was returning home along with his sister after attending a wedding.

He was killed in a fight with one of the suspects’ servants, who had verbally threatened and harassed his sister. As the prime accused belonged to powerful feudal families of Sindh, the incident had triggered a nationwide debate over whether the country’s elite could be held accountable for crimes they committed. The then Supreme Court Iftikhar Chaudhry had taken suo motu notice of the incident.

Later, after a speedy trial, Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon of Anti-Terrorism Court-3 sentenced Shahrukh Jatoi and co-accused Nawab Siraj Talpur to death.

Published in Daily Times, November 29^th 2017.