Lawyers of Shahzeb’s family to challenge change of prosecutor

They say that they will file a petition in SHC on Monday.

KARACHI:

The lawyers of Shahzeb Khan’s family said on Saturday that they will challenge the provincial government’s decision to change the public prosecutor at a time when he had already overseen testimonies of nine witnesses and the trial is in a decisive phase.

In a decision that raised many eyebrows, the provincial government replaced special public prosecutor Shahid Arain with Muzaffar Solangi on Friday night. Arain was assigned the case on March 1 after his predecessor Abdul Maroof distanced himself from the trial proceedings.

When the hearing of the case began on Saturday in an Anti Terrorism Court (ATC), Arain submitted a written application stating that the law department has withdrawn him from the case. Solangi, who was also in the court, told the judge that he was ready to assist in the proceedings. But lawyers representing Shahzeb’s family asked for the case to be adjourned, saying they have decided to go to the Sindh High Court against the change of prosecutor. Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon then adjourned the hearing till March 18.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Faisal Siddiqui, the lawyer of Shahzeb’s father DSP Aurengzeb Khan, said, “The prosecutor has the entire record of the case. We believe that the new prosecutor has been assigned this case just to tamper with the evidence.” The lawyer said a petition will most likely be filed in the Sindh High Court on Monday, asking for the decision of the government to be annulled as Arain performed his job with honesty and dedication.

In a written application, the investigation officer of the case, Inspector Muhammad Mobin, also told the ATC judge that he has asked senior police officials to take up the matter with the law secretary, since Arain has played important role in the case.

Despite repeated attempts, law secretary Ghulam Nabi Shah could not be contacted for a comment on the abrupt change of the public prosecutor. There are 53 witnesses, which prosecution intends to present to support the case. Shahzeb’s father, mother, sister and the judicial magistrate who oversaw identification parade of the four accused are among nine witnesses who have already testified.

If convicted, the suspects face a minimum punishment of life in imprisonment or even death.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan earlier asked ATC to wrap up the case within seven days since hearing started on March 7. But ATC judge later sought more time. The case has already faced delays as the defendant Shahrukh Jatoi changed his lawyer.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2013.