The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday announced that it had decided to delay the hearing of the Qisas case by 10 days.
The Islamic law Qisas (literally meaning equal retaliation) allows people to give monetary compensation instead of receiving punishment for their crime.
“Qisas was an exception made to prevent disorder. Now, it is being used by the wealthy to avoid trial,” Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said.
The CJP said a five-member bench would be formed to hear the case as it was an important issue.
“Islam has rulings (on these issues) but they are not implemented and this leads to an increase in crime,” he added.
“In the past, witnesses have been bought, Islamic laws are being used to further people’s own agendas,” remarked Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, adding that the state could enforce Tazir Pakistan (Pakistan Penal Code) even if the heirs of deceased pardoned the murderers. He said there were limits for the heirs in Qisas.
On Wednesday, Attorney General of Pakistan Munir A Malik had sought the Supreme Court’s advice on the issue of waiver of Qisas and compoundability of offences.
In his written statement submitted in the SC, he had asked the court 18 relevant questions in the backdrop of the Shahzeb murder case.
The announcement of the hearing being delayed came a day after this statement was submitted.