Islamabad: In a major development in the high-profile murder case of Shahzeb Khan, the Supreme Court of Pakistan acquitted on Tuesday the primary convict, Shahrukh Jatoi, along with his accomplices.
Headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan, a three-member-bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi heard the case.
Shahzeb Khan was murdered by Shahrukh Jatoi, the son of an influential feudal lord, on the night between December 24 and 25 in 2012 in a posh locality of Karachi.
In 2013, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) had awarded death sentences to Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur for the murder of Shahzeb, while life sentences were awarded to Sajjad Ali Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari.
However, following the ATC’s verdict Shahzeb’s parents had decided to pardon the convicts. The family had also filed an affidavit with the court.
Despite the pardon, however, the death penalty had upheld because of the addition of terrorism charges to the case — up until the SHC had dropped the charges and had ordered a retrial in the case.
Later, the Supreme Court took a sou motu action in 2018, nullifying the SHC order.
During today’s hearing, Latif Khosa, Shahrukh Jatoi’s lawyer, told the Supreme Court that the parties in the case had already reached a settlement.
Khosa told the bench that his clients had no plans of spreading terror, adding that the murder case was painted as a terrorist activity.
