SHC maintains acquittal of chief of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi

Death sentence awarded to 20 convicts also suspended due to flawed investigation

KARACHI: While maintaining the acquittal of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi chief, the Sindh High Court suspended death sentence awarded to 20 other convicts and converted the capital punishment of four others to life imprisonment as the prosecution failed to prove relevant cases.

The high court also rejected appeals filed by 23 other convicts, upholding the capital punishment awarded by the special anti-terrorism courts and the sessions’ courts.

These revelations are based on 16-week performance of the high court’s appellate bench, which is tasked to hear and decide appeals of the suspects convicted in criminal cases.



According to the report, the bench, headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, gave the verdict on 51 appeals against death sentences filed by the convicts as well as references sent by the judges of the ATCs and session courts.



While allowing the appeals of 20 suspects, the appellate bench suspended capital punishment awarded to them by the trial courts along with other sentences. Of them nine were convicted by the anti-terrorism courts (ATCs) while eleven by the sessions’ courts.

Their immediate release was ordered, if custody was not required in any other case, said a court official, requesting anonymity.

State appeals dismissed

The anti-terror appellate bench also dismissed the appeal filed by the state through the prosecutor general against the acquittal of the banned outfit, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s chief Muhammad Ajmal alias Akram Lahori and Tassaduque Hussain alias Shaikh in a sectarian killing case of 2002.

Karachi’s anti-terrorism court-V had acquitted Ajmal and Hussain of the murder charges on which the two accused, Ataullah alias Shaikh and Muhammad Azam alias Sharif, were sentenced to death. The police had accused them of killing Ramzan Ali, the owner of the Pak Iranian Tea Company, in February 2002. The bench wrote in its judgment, “There is no misreading of evidence resulting in  iscarriage of justice,” adding “sound reasons have been assigned by the trial court while recording the acquittal of the accused.”



“In consequence, appeal (of state) has no merit, and is dismissed,” ruled the bench. It had however, dismissed appeals filed by convicts Ataullah alias Shaikh and Muhammad Azam alias Sharif, since the same became infructuous following their execution in other case.



Choosing life over death

The bench also converted capital punishment of four convicts into life imprisonment. Besides, it also remanded back four death convicts cases to the concerned trial courts for re-trial, referring to some flaws in the court proceedings.

The Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resumed executions ending eight-year presidential moratorium on capital punishment following the massacre of over 130 students at the Army Public School in Peshawar during December 2014.

Since then dozens of convicts, whose appeals were dismissed by the Supreme Court and later their mercy appeals were also rejected by the President House, have been hanged across the country.

“In recent months a shift is seen in the approach of the defence lawyers, who go to the last extent to get their clients (death convicts) saved from the gallows, even if they get life term instead of death sentence,” another court official told The Express Tribune.

The official cited the case of convict, identified as Asadullah, who was awarded death sentence for kidnapping a minor Laiba for ransom and later killing her, however, his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment.

To the gallows

The appellate bench maintained capital punishment awarded to 23 convict in different cases. Seven of them were convicted by the ATCs, while sixteen by the sessions courts. The SHC judges confirmed the death sentence and answered in ‘affirmative’ the references sent by the judges of the concerned trial courts for confirmation of the sentences awarded by them to the convict.

Trying afresh

The SHC appellate bench found flaws in investigation and subsequent trial against four death convicts, whose cases were remanded back to the concerned trial courts to try the cases once again.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2016.