Judgement reserved on plea to summon experts in court

A n anti-terrorism court (ATC) reserved its judgment on Wednesday on an application, pleading to summon ballistic and chemical examiner experts in the court, moved by defence counsels of Rangers’ personnel involved in the extrajudicial murder of Sarfaraz Shah.
ATC-I Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso resumed the hearing in the Sarfaraz Shah murder case, as the defence lawyer moved with an application under Section 510 of the Criminal Procedure Code, seeking an order to summon ballistic and chemical experts.
Special public prosecutor Muhammad Khan Buriro objected to the move, saying that the case proceedings have already been delayed due to the lawyers’ strike in Karachi against targeted killings and the defendants’ lawyers were using delaying tactics.
Arguing that there is no need to summon experts in the court as their written statements have already been submitted, Buriro said that only the court can summon the experts if it wants to and the defence lawyers cannot make a plea in this regard.
After hearing the arguments from both sides, the ATC reserved its verdict on the applications of defence lawyers and adjourned the hearing of the case until Thursday (today).
Rangers Sub-Inspector Bahaur Rehman, Lance Naik Liaquat Ali, constables Mohammad Tariq, Minthar Ali, Shahid Zafar, Mohammad Afzal and private contractor Afsar Khan are on trial for murdering 22-year-old Shah with common intention inside the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park in Clifton on June 8.
According to the prosecution, the deceased was killed in an extrajudicial killing by paramilitary personnel, accusing him of committing robbery.
The case was registered against the alleged accused by the Boat Basin police under sections 302, 34 and 36 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. A case (FIR 227/2011) under sections 302 and 34 PPC was lodged against the law enforcement agency personnel appearing in the video footage at the same police station on complaint of the victim’s brother. Later, Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 was also incorporated in the FIR.