Acquittal in Azam Tariq murder case challenged

Sibtain Kazmi was taken into custody by FIA as he tried to fly to Manchester

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad’s Advocate General Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri on Friday challenged an anti-terrorism court judgment which had acquitted an accused in the murder case of a former MNA Maulana Azam Tariq.

ATC Judge Shahrukh Arjumand had acquitted Sibtain Kazmi in the murder case of former MNA who was also the chief of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) Maulana Azam Tariq.

Maulana Azam Tariq was coming from Jhang to Islamabad along with his four bodyguards when he was gunned down by unidentified men at Kashmir Highway on October 6, 2003. His driver and three bodyguards were also killed in the attack.



Kazmi was a proclaimed offender in this case and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in May 2017 arrested him from the Benazir Bhutto International Airport. FIA took Kazmi in custody after he approached the immigration counter to board a Manchester-bound Qatar Airways flight. He was then handed over to the Golra police.

He had filed an application under section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code and he was acquitted on March 5, 2018.



In the appeal against the judgment, Jahangiri said that the impugned order has been passed in a hasty manner and the court has not taken into consideration the gravity of offence coupled with its importance.

Jahangiri has argued that the accused is nominated in the FIR and incriminating evidence is available on record to connect him with the commission of offence.

The appellant has contested that the ATC has exercised its jurisdiction illegally and unlawfully and added that the impugned order is not sustainable in the eyes of law and is liable to be set aside. He has prayed the court to set aside the March 5 judgment in the best interest of justice.