On hold: Peshawar High Court stays execution of militant

Counsel contends his client was a college student and has no affiliation with banned militant outfit

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court stayed the execution of a militant who was sentenced to death by a military court for his alleged involvement in acts of terrorism.

The bench, headed by Justice Syed Afsar Shah, issued a notice to the federal government and sought its reply by September 8.

Hearing a judicial review petition filed by Fazal Ghafoor, through his counsel Atlas Khan, the court was told that the petitioner’s son, Fazal Rabi, was arrested by security forces from Matta tehsil of Swat in May 2014. Atlas said that Fazal remained in custody of security forces. The family learnt through media reports on August 7 that the suspect had been sentenced to death by a military court.



He added even the Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif approved his execution. The petitioner’s counsel said that Fazal was charged with carrying out attacks on security forces and for other incidents.

He contended that the accused was a college student and had no affiliation with any banned militant outfit. He said the PHC stayed the execution of militants in cases of a similar nature and requested the same for his client. The bench accepted the request and stayed the execution, while the writ was clubbed with petitions of a similar nature.

NAB assistance sought

The same bench, while hearing a writ filed by former chief minister Masoom Shah, sought the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) assistance on 15% accidental charges agreed through a plea bargain for the petitioner.

NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Jamil Saraf said the petitioner agreed to pay Rs258 million under a plea bargain. However, the petitioner’s counsel told the court that keeping in view a PHC judgment, in which accidental or operational charges were declared null and void, the demand for such a payment was illegal.

He said the charges were mentioned separately in the agreement signed between NAB and the petitioner and an objection was made at the time of signing.  The bench, after hearing the arguments, directed NAB’s prosecutors to guide the court on the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2016.