Journalism student Mashal Khan was shot and brutally lynched on campus on April 13. PHOTO COURTESY: FACEBOOK
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants for 26 accused acquitted by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the Mashal Khan murder case.
The court also admitted all appeals filed by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government and Mashal’s family against the ATC verdict.
The high court’s two-judge bench comprising Justice Qalandar Ali Khan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim heard the arguments of Additional Advocate General Mian Arshad Jan and the lawyer for Mashal’s family, Muhammad Ayaz Khan, and admitted all appeals for regular hearing along with other connected appeals filed by the respondent in the PHC’s Abbottabad registry.
Mashal Khan murder case moved from Abbottabad to Peshawar
Meanwhile, the bench also ordered issuance of bailable arrest warrants for the 26 accused in the sum of Rs100,000 with two surety bonds each in the like amount to the satisfaction of Mardan’s anti-terrorism court. They also have been directed to assure the court that they will remain in the country until the final judgment of the high court in the appeals is handed down.
The 26 accused were acquitted by an ATC judge on February 7 this year. The ATC had also awarded death penalty to one man and sentenced five convicts to 25 years in prison and other 25 to three years in jail.
“The case of criminal conspiracy has been proved which was proceeded over lynching and Qatl-e-Amd (intentional murder),” argued AAG Mian Arshad Jan.
“All the accused had a common objective to brutally murder Mashal Khan and hence there was no ground whatsoever for their acquittal,” he asserted.
Admitting the appeals for hearing , Justice Qalandar Ali Khan said: “The contention of the AAG would require more consideration, together with reappraisal of evidences on the file, hence, the appeals are admitted for regular hearing.”
Arguing for the enhancement of punishment from life imprisonment to death sentences for five convicts, the AAG said: “Having played active and effective roles in the pre-planned lynching and gruesome murder of Mashal Khan, the five convicts deserve the normal penalty of death.”
He added that they were shown leniency in the matter of sentence and were awarded a lesser penalty of life for no cogent reasons. Moreover, according to the advocate general, appeals have also been filed by the convicted respondents, which are pending before the court and are yet to be fixed for hearing. “Therefore, the court has also admitted for regular hearing along with the appeals by the respondents against the conviction and sentence. The court has issued notices to the respondents for a date in office, along with connected appeals against the conviction of respondents.”
He said the appellants have also challenged the three-year sentence for 25 accused and had asked the court for enhancement of their punishments. Those 25 convicts have been released by the PHC on bail.
The AAG and the lawyer of Mashal’s family contended that the case of prosecution against the 25 respondents had been proved with provision of solid evidences against them, yet they were acquitted by the ATC.
The two also asked the court to enhance punishment of Imran Ali, the shooter, who was given death penalty by the ATC under section 302 of the CrPC. They argued that Ali had also played an active role in gathering the mob for lynching; therefore, he deserved a harsher punishment.
The court has admitted all the appeals for regular hearing and issued notices to the respondents.
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