SHC adjourns Shahrukh Jatoi’s appeal hearing until Feb 26

The Sindh High Court’s (SHC) special bench constituted to hear the 2012 Shahzaib Khan murder case against Shahrukh Jatoi and other co-accused adjourned on Monday the hearing of their appeal on the request of the appellants’ counsels until February 26.

The SHC chief justice had constituted a special bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar following the ruling of the Supreme Court that set aside the previous judgment of the high court in which it had struck down the conviction awarded by an anti-terrorism court and remanded back the case to a sessions court for de novo (literally ‘of new’) trial.

Farooq H Naek, the counsel for Shahrukh Jatoi, submitted that the application with regard to determination of Jatoi’s age and his trial under the juvenile justice system was pending along with the appeals and that the same be heard and decided first.

The counsel for the other appellants sought time for preparation of the case. The court was informed that Sardar Latif Khosa would appear in the appeal hearing of Jatoi and sought adjournment of the hearing on his behalf.

The counsel for co-accused Ghulam Murtaza Lashari did not appear. The court directed the appellant to ensure that either his counsel should appear before the court or he should make an alternate arrangement for his representation in the appeal hearing. Granting the request of the counsels, the SHC adjourned the hearing until February 26.

Shahrukh Jatoi, along with Nawab Siraj Ali Talpur, was sentenced to death while Siraj’s brother Nawab Sajjad Ali Talpur and his employee Ghulam Murtaza Lashari were sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court on June 7, 2013 after finding them guilty of murdering university student Shahzaib Khan on December 24, 2012.

The prosecution claimed that Ghulam Murtaza Lashari, an employee of Siraj Talpur, harassed Shahzaib’s sister, which resulted in a fight between Shahzaib and Shahrukh Jatoi, who was accompanied by Siraj Talpur and others, but the matter was resolved due to the intervention of Shahzaib’s father Aurangzaib Khan.

The prosecution said the accused followed Shahzaib, who had left the house in his vehicle after the brawl, and later, on instigation of absconding co-accused Asif Lund and Salman Jatoi, Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur carried out a murderous assault on Shahzaib with pistols at Khayaban-e-Bahria near the Mubarak Masjid, following which Shahzaib succumbed to his injuries at the Ziauddin Hospital.

Shahzaib’s brutal killing by people belonging to influential families sparked public outrage and resulted in protest demonstrations by several civil society groups and ultimately, the Supreme Court took suo motu notice over the incident and directed the police to arrest the culprits and prosecute them without any delay.

Back to jail

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar had recently taken notice of Jatoi’s shifting to the Jinnah Hospital. The CJP called for a report on the matter from the Sindh police chief and the inspector general of prisons.

Jatoi had been shifted to the Jinnah Hospital after complaining of back pain. He was shifted to the hospital from the jail premises on the recommendation of the jail’s medical officer.

The jail medical officer made the request citing unavailability of resources to tackle the ailment within the jail premises. Jatoi had previously also served most of his incarceration at the Jinnah Hospital citing medical issues.

The Supreme Court ordered re-arresting Jatoi, Siraj Talpur and other accused in the Shahzaib Khan murder case. Following the order, Jatoi and others were taken into custody from the court premises.

The top court had been moved by civil society members against the SHC’s decision ordering a re-trial and removal of terrorism charges from the conviction against the accused. The apex court, instead of accepting the civil society’s appeal, took suo motu action and nullified the SHC order.