Shahzeb Khan murder trial: SHC calls for corrected police books of four convicts

Shahrukh Jatoi has appealed against his sentence, asks for benefit of doubt.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) wants to see the 'corrected' police paper books of the four men who have challenged their sentences in the Shahzeb Khan murder case.

An anti-terrorism appellate bench of the high court issued these directions on Monday when the lawyers appearing for the convicts highlighted the errors in the paper book of the high-profile murder.

The convicts include Shahrukh Jatoi and Nawab Siraj Talpur, who were handed down death sentences on June 7, 2013, for killing 20-year-old Shahzeb Khan in December, 2012. In the same trial, co-accused Nawab Sajjad Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari were given life imprisonment.

The anti-terrorism court had also directed to pay a fine of Rs500,000 each, half of which would be paid to the legal heirs of the deceased. In case they fail to pay, they will have to undergo an additional two years of imprisonment.

Shahrukh was further convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for three years for possessing weapons without a licence, while Lashari was sentenced to imprisonment for one more year for assaulting Shahzeb's sister.

Challenging the anti-terrorism court's decision before the SHC, the convicts stated that the conviction and the sentence were not justified by the evidence placed on record as the trial court judge had misread the evidence. "Whenever doubts came up in the case, the court ruled in favour of the prosecution whereas, according to the established principles of law, the benefit of the doubt is always given to the accused," their lawyers argued.

The lawyers claimed that the complainant improved his first statement given to the police nominating four accused. The appellant claimed that the complainant's version in the FIR never corroborated any circumstantial or medical evidence while the improved statement of the witness could not be relied upon as it affects the credibility of the evidence.

The high court has been appealed to set aside Shahrukh's conviction after examining the record of the proceedings initiated by the trial court and acquit him on all charges. Taking up for hearing on Monday, a two-member bench found some errors in the police paper books of the appellants. Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, head of the bench, directed the relevant parties to submit corrected paper books by April 14.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2014.