Sabzarar encounter: Chief minister’s acquittal challenged

Mother of victim says appeal delayed due to husband’s death.

LAHORE:

A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday admitted for regular hearing an appeal challenging the acquittal of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in the Sabzazar police case.

The appeal was filed by Khurshid Khanum, mother of brothers Wasim and Rauf who were killed in the encounter. The bench condoned the delay in the filing of the appeal. Khurshid Khanum stated that her husband had to battle mental illness after their sons were murdered. She said that the serious illness and subsequent death of her husband prevented her from approaching the court before.

On another appeal against the acquittal of police officials in the same case, the bench summoned records from the anti-terrorism court for the next hearing. Khurshid Bibi, through her counsel, submitted that another complainant in the case had withdrawn their complaint against Shahbaz Sharif, but that her husband had not withdrawn the case. She said that her husband later passed away and she did not want to give up the case. She said that the anti-terrorism court could not acquit the chief minister solely relying on the statement of one party involved in the case. She requested the court to set aside the chief minister’s acquittal and issue directions to immediately hold his trial.

On April 4, 1998, five young men were killed in a shootout with police in the jurisdiction of Sabzazar police station. The FIR was registered against 12 persons including Mian Shahbaz Sharif on March 29, 2001.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2012.