Shahzeb Khan murder case: Shahrukh Jatoi challenges trial by ATC

Prime suspect files a criminal revision application with the Sindh High Court on Tuesday.

KARACHI: Shahrukh Jatoi, the prime suspect in the Shahzeb Khan murder case, challenged his trial by the special anti-terrorism court through terrorism charges on Tuesday.

As the anti-terrorism court-III is conducting trial on daily basis, the main suspect filed a criminal revision application with the Sindh High Court. He submitted that since the case does not fall within the ambit of the anti-terrorism law, his lawyer had challenged the jurisdiction of the anti-terrorism court to conduct the trial.

The trial court had, however, dismissed the plea observing that sufficient evidence was available on record to prove that the case does fall within the ambit of the law, thus, initiated formal trial.

“Every criminal act cannot be covered under the anti-terrorism act,” the suspect’s lawyer argued in the review plea. “Every terrorist may be criminal, but every criminal cannot be given the label of a ‘terrorist’ only to set in motion the more stringent provisions of the special law.”

Initially, the Darakhshan police had lodged a murder case on the complaint of the victim’s father DSP Aurangzeb Khan, who had named the four men as murderers. After the Supreme Court took notice, the investigator also added section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 among other charges to the FIR.



The suspect’s lawyer has also challenged inclusion of section 7 and pleaded the high court declare that the offence does not attract the provisions of the stringent anti-terrorism law.

He also pleaded that the proceedings should be transferred from the ATC to an ordinary court.

Shahrukh to be given ‘B’ class facilities

Anti-Terrorism Court ordered on Tuesday the superintendent of the central prison to give ‘B’ class facilities to three suspects – Shahrukh Jatoi, his friends Nawab Siraj Talpur and Nawab Sajjad Talpur – who are charged with murder of Shahzeb Khan.

ATC-III Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon passed this order on the suspects’ plea and after educational institutes verified authenticity of the suspects’ academic certificates on the basis of which they had requested for better class in the prison.

Meanwhile, the court Advocate Shaukat Zubedi’s request to represent the prime suspect, Shahrukh Jatoi, in the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2013.