Wali Babar murder case: SHC to rehear Faisal Mota’s appeal against death sentence

LARKANA: The Sindh High Court's (SHC) Larkana bench will rehear the appeal against death sentence filed by Faisal Mehmood alias ‘Mota’ – the main accused in 2011 murder case of Geo News journalist Wali Khan Babar.

The Larkana bench of the SHC, after hearing arguments from both sides on August 16, issued a written order stating that the court will conduct further hearing of the appeal on September 21.

The court also sought further assistance from the “learned counsel for the appellant [Mota] as well as D.P.G [deputy prosecutor general]".

On March 1, 2014, an anti-terrorism court in Kandhkot had awarded death sentence to two suspects including Faisal Mota in absentia, and life imprisonment to four accused in the case.

Babar was gunned down in the Liaquatabad area of Karachi on January 13, 2011, when he was returning home from office.

Faisal Mota was arrested during a raid by the security forces at Nine-Zero, Karachi in 2015.

Editorial note: The story earlier erroneously stated that the Sindh High Court had overturned the death sentence of Faisal Mota and referred the case to the lower courts. The error is regretted.