Mashal murder case moved from Abbottabad to Peshawar

PHC okays move as lawyer for accused argues that some are still held in Haripur jails

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday directed to transfer to the provincial capital all appeals submitted against a verdict of the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in a circuit bench of the higher court in the Mashal Khan murder case.

The court ruled that the case could be transferred to Peshawar since the incident took place in Mardan, which falls within the jurisdiction of the PHC.

The directives were issued by PHC’s caretaker Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth as he heard a petition filed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government, through the advocate general, urging the court to transfer the hearing of the appeals filed by the convicts to its principal seat in Peshawar.

However, during Mondays’ proceedings, Advocate Iftikhar Ahmad objected to the move, arguing that since some of the people associated with the attack on the university student were still in the Haripur jail, it would be convenient for them to attend hearings in Abbottabad.

Moreover, he added that all the accused had already submitted their appeals to the Abbottabad registry of the court while Mashal’s family and the K-P government had submitted their appeals in the PHC.

However, Barrister Amirullah Chamkani, who is representing Mashal’s family in the case, argued that since all the accused in the case also hail from Mardan — which falls within the jurisdiction of PHC in Peshawar, hence the appeals should also be heard in Peshawar.

He clarified that the trial had been transferred to the anti-terrorism court in Haripur only for security reasons at the time. However, he claimed that the situation had now changed, thus the case can be brought back to Peshawar for hearing.

The lawyer argued that the state and the victim’s family have also submitted appeals to the principal seat of PHC in Peshawar.
Additional Advocate General (AAG) Waqar Ahmad, representing the K-P government, explained to the court that the provincial government was keen on continuing the hearing in Peshawar especially since the government had also filed its appeals in Peshawar.
Mashal Khan, A student of Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan was killed by a vigilante mob after being accused of committing blasphemy.

The PHC had ordered to transfer his murder trial from Mardan to an ATC in Haripur after a request from Mashal’s father who expressed fear from "influential adversaries".

In its judgment issued on February 7, 2018, the ATC issued sentences for 57 of the 61 suspects who had been charged in connection with the case.


One of the accused was sentenced to death; five to life in prison; and 25 to serve at least three years in prison. A further 26 suspects were acquitted.

However, on February 27, the PHC Abbottabad circuit bench suspended the three-year jail term handed down to 25 convicts and ordered their release on bail. This had been challenged in the PHC.

The K-P government filed three appeals against the acquittal as well as petitions calling for the enhancement of sentences of all those convicted in the case.

Mashal’s family, meanwhile, had submitted six appeals, urging the court to issue equal punishment for all the convicts since they all had the same intention.

Believing the punishment to be too harsh, the convicts had filed their appeals in the Abbottabad registry of the PHC against the sentences handed out by the ATC.

Seth, after hearing arguments of both the parties, directed to transfer the cases to Peshawar. The hearing of the case is expected to begin on May 17, 2018.