Sindh’s most influential prisoner

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Shahrukh Jatoi, convicted in the murder of Shahzaib Khan in December 2012 in Karachi, and supposed to be serving a life sentence at the Central Jail, had been living a luxurious life at a private hospital of Karachi for the last seven months. This exclusive story by reporter Waqar Bhatti caused yet another outrage in the case, with many terming Shahrukh Jatoi as Sindh’s most influential prisoner for the number of times he has managed to escape from serving time in jail.

After the story broke this time, Jatoi was shifted back to prison from Qamar-ul-Islam Hospital where he was under treatment for “backache and other health issues”. Thanks to this story, around 20 more high-profile convicted prisoners, who were shifted to various public and private hospitals in Karachi, were also sent back to Central Prison Karachi. It was reported that all these out of jail prisoners were enjoying lavish lives at public and private health facilities in connivance with the Sindh prison authorities.

It was revealed that Shahrukh Jatoi was out of jail at least for the last 20 months and remained in one public and three private health facilities with a car at his disposal, food from home and other facilities available to him. This treatment is not afforded to the hundreds of others across the province serving similar sentences. It points to the level of corruption rampant in the Sindh government apparatus. While there was no official word from the Sindh Prisons Department, the Sindh Health Department or the Sindh Home Department on shifting to lesser known private hospitals for treatment, the Sindh Chief Minister has predictably ordered an inquiry into the matter.

In many such cases, we have seen time and again how the Sindh government continues to shelter criminals and shield murderers under one guise or another. When Shahrukh Jatoi escaped to Dubai soon after the murder of Shahzaib, it took a suo motu notice by the then Chief Justice to get the Sindh government to be awoken from their slumber and bring him back. Shahrukh Jatoi reportedly managed to escape to Dubai in 2013 using a fake identity. Even then, an inquiry was ordered to ascertain how he managed to slip away. Nothing came of the inquiry.

In 2018, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar visited the Landhi Jail and found Shahrukh Jatoi in C-Class facilities instead of the death cell. Justice Nisar asked how the cell had a television, fridge and microwave, which were not allowed to the prisoner as per his entitlement. At the time another inquiry was ordered.

Earlier in the same year, the Supreme Court had dismissed the review petition filed by Shahrukh Jatoi and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari convicted of Shahzeb Khan’s murder. A three-judge SC bench comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and headed by chief justice Saqib Nisar had canceled the bails of Shahrukh Jatoi and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari. This came after an earlier decision by the Sindh High Court to set aside the terrorism charges based on the reasoning that the murder case did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and should be tried by the ordinary court.

The CJP ordered policemen present inside the courtroom to take into custody the accused after declaring the earlier decision of the SHC null and void. The court also restored the terrorism charges against the convicted murderers.

The Shahrukh Jatoi case, as well as some other high-profile cases where influential and rich families are involved, are a test case when it comes to the commitment of the Sindh government to provide justice to its people. So far, we have been disappointed. But the problem does not end there. If the record of the Sindh government has been dismal, more disappointing has been the stance taken by some journalists and social media activists who have given this open and shut case an ethnic angle. This only complicates the case and makes it into something that it is not. We have been told time and again that justice delayed is justice denied. Much has to be done to ensure that such high-profile cases are dealt with quickly and fairly. There is already too much hopelessness in our country. We cannot afford to make things worse.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17, 2022.

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