Murder of justice

The corridors of justice remained silent and the walls finally caved in to the powers of the rich and the influential as the Supreme Court acquitted Shahrukh Jatoi along with others accused in the 2012 Shahzeb Khan murder case. The 10-year long history of the case shows how the justice system protects high-profile criminals while justice for the victim remains elusive. A culture of impunity and corruption has shackled the hands of justice as conviction rates remain deplorably low.

The outcome of this case was ordained from the very beginning when the accused posed victory signs after walking out of the anti-terrorism court following his death sentence, making his intentions explicit to the public. Since then, everything has been done — from dragging the case on for years and faking his detention in prison to coercing the family to drop the charges — to ensure that the perpetrator is set free. The same trend has been witnessed in several other cases, a recent one being that of Nazim Jhokio who was reportedly tortured and killed by a sitting MPA belonging to Sindh. These grisly murders reflect the macabre reality that the feudal system has perpetuated so that the law of the jungle prevails.

In the case of Shahzeb murder, it is being claimed that the perpetrator has offered blood money in exchange for freedom to the victim’s family according to Islamic principles. The terrorism charges, which make the state party to the case, seem to have been dropped, paving the way for the acquittal of the accused. On the one hand, the whole sorry saga shows how state apparatuses are able to work collectively to protect the self-interest of the elite, on the other hand, it has highlighted the power and potential of social media, as significant uproar had forced the then chief justice to take suo moto notice of the incident. Voices must again be raised to undo this act of injustice — maybe through an appeal to the apex court — and ensure that nobody is above and beyond the grip of the law.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2022.

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