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

LARKANA: The Sindh High Court (SHC) 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, Geo News reported Friday.

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]".

Earlier, it was misreported that the SHC had overturned the death sentence awarded to Faisal Mota and that it had referred the case to a lower court for a retrial.

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.