SPY EYES

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday rejected Shahrukh Jatoi's appeal to remove sections of anti-terrorism laws in the Shahzeb Khan's murder case. A two-member bench comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Sarmad Usmani announced the decision at Supreme Court's Karachi registry. It was stated in the petition that the incident took place due to personal dispute, thus the case did not come under anti-terrorism section. 

The court expressed dissatisfaction and upheld decision of the Sindh High Court. An anti-terrorism court had handed death sentences to Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur. In the final charge-sheet submitted to the ATC, the police investigator had charged the main accused and co-accused under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and under Section 7 of the anti-terrorism act (ATA) 1997.

However, on September 9, Shahzeb Khan's parents decided to pardon those convicted of their son's murder in the 'name of Allah.' On December 25 last year, Shahzeb Khan was gunned down in Karachi by Shahrukh Jatoi, who was accompanied by his friends Siraj and Sajjad Talpur. The young men had a fight after Talpur's servant, Ghulam Murtaza Lashari, teased Khan's sister.

After Khan's killing, youths and civil society groups had taken to the streets in Karachi and other cities to highlight the murder, prompting the Supreme Court to take suo moto notice 10 days after the murder. After prolonged hearings of the case in the Supreme Court and an anti-terrorism court in Karachi, the ATC finally delivered its verdict in June. It awarded the death penalty to Jatoi and Siraj Talpur, another prime accused in the case, and life imprisonment to Sajjad Talpur and Murtaza Lashari.