Death sentence of 4 convicted of minor’s rape, murder commuted

Court seeks progress reports on NAB's inquiries against PPP's Wassan, Khuhro

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court commuted on Tuesday the death sentences awarded to four men convicted of raping and murdering a minor girl. Rejecting the convicts' plea for acquittal, a two-member bench, comprising Justice KK Agha and Justice Abdul Mobeen Lakho, commuted their sentences to life imprisonment.

The court, while announcing the verdict, stated that the sentences awarded to convicts Syed Altaf Hussain, Haider Shah, Arif Shah and Shahid Mehmood could not be nullified due to the strong evidence against the them.

However, the penalty was being commuted on a technical basis, the bench remarked.

According to the prosecution, the convicts raped and murdered an eight-year-old girl in 2018 and the case against them was registered at the Sachal Police Station.

A trial court had sentenced all the accused to death when they were found guilty in 2019.

Graft inquiries

Meanwhile, the SHC sought a progress report from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on an inquiry into Pakistan Peoples Party leader Manzoor Wassan's assets and his alleged misuse of authority.

The court asked for the report on a plea which challenged the inquiry.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Shamsuddin Abbasi heard the plea.

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Wassan's counsel maintained that during the previous hearing, NAB declared its intention to close the inquiry.

Justice Kalhoro asked about the inquiry's progress.

NAB's prosecutor informed the court that the investigation officer was told to complete legal formalities after the recommendation to close the inquiry was sent the bureau's headquarters in Islamabad.

He added objections to closing the inquiry were being removed.

The bench extended Wassan's bail till June 17 and told NAB to inform the court on the inquiry's progress by the next hearing.

The same bench asked for another progress report on a plea which sought the removal of PPP leader Nisar Ahmed Khuhro's name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

Khuhro maintained that his wife had been infected with coronavirus in the US and his family needed him to be present during this difficult time. He claimed the federal government put his name on the ECL with mala fide intentions. He believed the NAB inquiry against him was a case of political victimisation.

The court inquired about progress in the inquiry which accused Khuhro of misusing his authority.

The NAB prosecutor maintained that the probe was in its initial stages.

The court sought a progress report from NAB on the next hearing and extended Khuhro's bail till June 16.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2021.