ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted Shahrukh Jatoi and his accomplices in the Shahzeb Khan murder case.
Shahzeb Khan, 20, was shot and killed at Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority on December 24, 2012 while he was returning home from a wedding with his sister.
Later, police arrested Jatoi along with his accomplices.
In 2012, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi handed down a death sentence to Jatoi and his accomplice Siraj Ali Talpur and a life imprisonment to Sajjad Ali Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari in the murder case.
On Tuesday, a three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the case.
The Supreme court was told by the counsel for the defendants Latif Khosa that a formal pardon for the convicts was issued by Shahzeb’s parents a few months after the ATC verdict and later, the Sindh High Court accepted the apology.
Due to the addition of terrorist charges to the case, the death penalty had nonetheless been upheld despite the pardon until the SHC dismissed the charges and mandated a new trial.
The SHC later changed the death penalty of the convicts to a life sentence after considering appeals against the conviction.
All four convicts subsequently petitioned the Supreme Court. Their counsel Latif Khosa told the court that his clients had no desire to spread terror. The court, after hearing arguments, acquitted all four convicts.
Background:
Shahzeb, the son of former Deputy Superintendent of Police Aurangzeb Khan, was killed at Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority on December 24, 2012, after he had an altercation with Sharukh Jatoi.
The incident made headlines before chief justice Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry took a suo motu notice.
