Shahzeb Khan murder case: Court seeks details of 'settlement'

KARACHI: A sessions court hearing the Shahzeb Khan murder case has summoned details of the out-of-court ‘settlement’ reached between the families of convict Shahrukh Jatoi and the victim.

The court on Friday also summoned a log of the arguments made before the Sindh High Court (SHC) in the past.

On December 23, 2017 Shahrukh Jatoi, the son of an influential feudal lord, and other defendants in the Shahzeb Khan murder case were released from custody on bail after Shahzeb’s father submitted an affidavit in support of the defendant's bail application.

Shahzeb Khan's father, Aurangzeb Khan, had earlier asked the sessions court to not only release the four men earlier convicted of his son's murder on bail, but also drop the case against them completely, arguing that his family had earlier pardoned his son's killers.

Civil activists approach Supreme Court against SHC ruling in Shahzeb murder case

Activists have filed a petition in SC Karachi registry against SHC ruling which set aside death penalty for Shahrukh Jatoi and others convicted in Shahzeb Khan murder case

Shahzeb was gunned down by Shahrukh Jatoi in a posh locality of Karachi on December 25, 2012. 

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in 2013 had awarded death sentences to Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur for the murder of Shahzeb, while life sentences were awarded to Sajjad Ali Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari.

However, on November 28, 2017 the murder case took a dramatic turn when the SHC ordered a retrial, striking down the death penalty awarded to the convicts by the ATC.

In its order, the SHC stated that an act of revenge over personal enmity did not equate to an act of terrorism.