CJP constitutes larger bench to hear Shahzeb murder case appeals
Civil society members challenged SHC order to retry convict Shahrukh Jatoi, others
January 12, 2018
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar has constituted a larger bench to hear appeals filed by members of civil society in the Shahzeb Khan murder case.
The case will be heard on Saturday (January 13) by a three-member bench headed by the chief justice and comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Faisal Arab at the Karachi Registry.
Members of civil society had approached the Supreme Court against the Sindh High Court ruling which set aside the death penalty for Shahrukh Jatoi and others convicted for the 2012 murder of Shahzeb and ordered their retrial by a sessions court.
Ten civil society activists – including Jibran Nasir, Jamshed Raza Mahmood, Afiya Shehrbano Zia, Naeem Sadiq, Nazim Fida Hussain Haji, Zulfiqar Shah, Aquila Ismail, Fahim Zaman Khan, and Naziha Syed Ali – have filed a criminal petition in the Supreme Court's Karachi Registry challenging the SHC’s November 28, 2017 ruling which stated that the murder case does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
In their petition, the civil society members have stated that they have the legal standing to file the petition for leave to appeal as they are citizens of Karachi and reside in the same locality – Defence Housing Authority – where the murder took place.
They have stated in the petition that the incident was not just of an individual nature, but carried serious repercussions for the society at large.
The incident created fear and panic among residents of the area, which the members say they consider as enough grounds to file the case as a public interest appeal on behalf of the people of Karachi.
On December 23, 2017, Jatoi, the son of an influential feudal, 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 was gunned down by Jatoi in a posh locality of Karachi on December 25, 2012.
An ATC in 2013 had awarded death sentences to Jatoi and Siraj Talpur for the murder of Shahzeb, while life sentences were awarded to Sajjad Ali Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari.
