Speaker, MPA issued notices in Nazim Jokhio case

Petition says Jam Owais should be de-notified for not being 'sadiq' and 'ameen'

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has issued notices to Sindh Assembly speaker and member of provincial assembly (MPA) Jam Owais on a petition seeking the latter's disqualification for giving blood money to the heirs in the Nazim Jokhio murder case.

The petitioner's lawyers stated that Jam Owais, in Nazim Jokhio murder case, reconciled with the heirs of Jokhio and paid diyat (blood money) to the heirs. The payment was an admission of guilt, it contended, adding that the lawmaker could no longer be considered 'sadiq' and 'ameen' by paying blood money.

It said that Sindh Assembly speaker should be ordered to send a reference against Jam Owais and he should be de-notified for not being 'sadiq' and 'ameen'. The petition cited clause 53 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which states diyat is a punishment. It said that the trial court in its decision stated the lawmaker had confessed to his crime by paying diyat.

PPP MPA Jam Awais Jokhio and his men were booked in October 2021 for torturing an activist, Nazim Jokhio to death. Nazim reportedly tried to stop the Awais's foreign guests from illegal hunting of the houbara bustard, an endangered specie, in the Memon Goth area of Karachi.

The family of deceased Nazim Jokhio in an affidavit filed in court consented to pardon Jam Awais and others in the high-profile murder case. The court issued notices to the Sindh Assembly speaker and Jam Owais.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2023.