The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday issued notices on multiple applications seeking early hearing of sentence suspension pleas filed by human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chatha in the social media posts case.
During the hearing, the couple’s lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi, requested Justice Muhammad Azam Khan to fix the matter for Monday (May 25). Issuing notices, Justice Khan remarked, “Let us hear the other side as well.”
At the same time, the judge observed that Monday would be the last working day before Eidul Azha and said the matter could not be fixed on that day.
Siddiqi responded that if the other side sought an adjournment on Monday, his clients would not object. Justice Khan then remarked that the case would instead be fixed for the first working day after Eid, adding, “Now your fate is like this, what should I do?”
Former president of the IHCBA Riasat Ali Azad also requested the court to fix the matter for Monday, saying both petitioners were respected members of the legal fraternity.
Justice Khan stated that he would review the court’s cause list for Monday before making a decision. The couple’s counsel later agreed to fix the case after Eid. The hearing was subsequently adjourned.
It should be noted that the Supreme Court (SC) had directed the IHC on May 12 to decide within two weeks on Imaan and Hadi’s pleas seeking the suspension of their sentence.
SC upholds death sentence, says weak motive not enough to reduce penalty
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday ruled that where direct eyewitness testimony, injured witness evidence, medical findings and forensic reports consistently establish guilt in a murder case, failure to conclusively prove motive alone was not sufficient legal ground to commute a death sentence to life imprisonment.
The observation was made in a detailed judgment issued in Jail Petition No. 178 of 2025 by a three-member bench comprising Justice , Justice and Justice .
The apex court upheld the May 22, 2025 verdict of the Multan Bench, which had maintained the convictions and sentences awarded to convict Khuda Bakhsh by the trial court. According to the judgment, the case arose from FIR No. 850/2019 registered at City Shujaabad Police Station, Multan district. The prosecution alleged that during the night between October 14 and 15, 2019, the convict opened fire inside his house with a 30 bore pistol, killing his son Muhammad Imran, daughter Fauzia Bibi and minor grandson Muhammad Madni, while injuring another son, Muhammad Rizwan.
The Supreme Court observed that the prosecution case was based on direct ocular evidence fully corroborated by the testimony of the injured witness, medical reports and the forensic report. The forensic report confirmed that the spent cartridges recovered from the crime scene matched the weapon recovered from the accused. The court held that non-proof of motive did not automatically benefit the accused in every case, particularly where direct identification and scientific evidence conclusively establish the commission of the offence.
The judgment further stated that the relationship of witnesses with the deceased could not by itself render their testimony doubtful, especially in domestic incidents where the presence of eyewitnesses at the scene is natural and understandable.
The court described the case as extremely grave and brutal, citing the killing of three persons, injuries to another victim, indiscriminate firing inside a house, the murder of a minor child and repeated firing as aggravating factors leaving no room for leniency.
The Supreme Court concluded that the convict failed to establish any legal or mitigating circumstance warranting commutation of the death sentence into life imprisonment and, therefore, dismissed the appeal while maintaining the death penalty.