Miscarriage of justice? Terror convict’s death sentence suspended

PHC puts defence ministry on notice, directs it to produce a record of the case

PESHAWAR: The death sentence of a man, who had been convicted of terrorism by a military court, was suspended on Tuesday.

The sentence was suspended by a two-judge bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), comprising Justice Syed Afsar Shah and Justice Muhammad Nasir Mehfooz, while hearing a petition challenging the sentence.

The petition had been suspended by Taj Muhammad through his lawyer Sartaj Khan.

The petitioner told the court that he has learnt through a news report that his son, Israr Ahmad, had been sentenced to death by a military court for his involvement in terrorism.

Muhammad contended that his son had not been given a fair trial.

“He has been convicted without the due process of law and without ample opportunity of defence,” Muhammad’s lawyer Sartaj argued before the court.

“Such a grave miscarriage of justice has been caused as his trial was not fair.”

As interim relief, the lawyer requested that the court suspend the sentence issued by the military court and direct the respondents, including the ministry of defence, to produce a complete record of his trial.

The court accepted the plea and directed that “the operation of death sentence awarded to Israr Ahmad, the convict, by a military court shall remain suspended.”

The bench has also clubbed this petition with other petitions which have been affixed for hearing before the court on September 12.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2018.