Daniel Pearl case: SC rejects Sindh govt’s plea to suspend SHC verdict

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Sindh government’s plea to suspend Sindh High Court’s (SHC) judgment regarding the release and acquittal of accused in the murder case of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

During the hearing, Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik said the petition seeking suspension of the judgment cited irrelevant provisions.“First of all the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl must be proved,” Justice Malik said. “Evidence must prove that the abductee was Daniel Pearl. The Sindh government claims that a conspiracy was hatched in Rawalpindi. What conspiracy took place in Rawalpindi must also be proved with evidence.”

The judge added: “We should be provided a complete record of the case. I want to look at all the records so that I can understand all the points.”

The apex court ordered the counsel representing the provincial government, Senator Farooq H Naek, for submitting the detailed record before the court for the case to be further heard. The hearing was then adjourned indefinitely after the Sindh government sought time to submit the record of the trial court.

Justice Malik said the court had to check whether the confession and identification parade was in accordance with the law or not. “The facts cannot be ignored,” he added.

On April 2, the SHC had commuted the death sentence of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh — the man convicted of kidnapping and murdering American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 — to a seven year sentence.

The SHC had also acquitted three others who had been awarded life imprisonment in the case. The order came almost two decades after they were found guilty and subsequently jailed.

The slain journalist’s parents had approached the apex court against the SHC’s verdict. Two criminal petitions had been filed by Faisal Siddiqi advocate on behalf of Pearl’s parents Ruth Pearl and Judie Pearl against the acquittal and release of the four accused.