KARACHI:
The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday dismissed an application filed by Shahrukh Jatoi, the prime convict in the Shahzeb Khan murder case, who sought quashing of proceedings related to ‘possession of illegal weapons’.
The two-member bench of the appellate apex court, comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, finding no merits, dismissed the plea.
An anti-terrorism court had sentenced Jatoi to death on June 7, upon founding him guilty of murdering the 20-year-old son of a police deputy superintendent. He was also sentenced to a three-year-jail term for possessing an illicit weapon.
Co-accused in the case, Nawab Siraj Talpur was also sentenced to death. Nawab Sajjad Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari were handed life imprisonment sentences and directed to pay Rs500,000 each to the victim’s family.
The prime convict, who is currently serving sentences in prison, filed an application, seeking quashing proceedings initiated against him under Section 13-E of the Arms Ordinance 1965.
His lawyer, Syed Shafquat Shah Masoomi, informed that the prosecution had initially claimed recovering a pistol from the custody of his client. Inspector Muhammad Mobin, the second investigation officer, later tempered with the forensic experts’ report, showing the weapon as a 9mm pistol with four live rounds, he alleged.
He added that a similar objection was raised before the trial court, which had overruled the same. An application on the similar point was also filed with the Sindh High Court, which also rejected the same, the lawyer informed.
He pleaded to the apex court to set aside the high court’s order and quash proceedings initiated against Shahrukh under the arms law.
Earlier on Thursday, the appellate apex court’s bench observed that the trial court had overruled such objections, which were later also turned down by the high court, and ultimately the sentences had been awarded. The bench subsequently dismissed the plea.
It may be recalled that earlier the same bench had dismissed another application of the convict Shahrukh Jatoi who had sought suspension of death sentence awarded to him by the anti-terrorism court for murder.
