Newly sworn in Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa has listed the Khadija Siddiqi stabbing case for January 23, when he will hear the appeal against the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision to acquit the accused in the case, Shah Hussain.
The case had been taken up by former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar when he took notice of the acquittal back in June 2018, a day after Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem of the LHC, through a short order, acquitted Shah Hussain of all charges after accepting his appeal against the five-year sentence handed to him by a sessions court.
Justice Nisar as the head of a two member bench had forwarded the appeal to another two-member Supreme Court bench led by the now Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa. The listing of the case for January 23rd was announced on social media platform twitter by Khadija Siddiqi’s lawyer Hassan Niazi.
“Breaking news: Honourable Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa lists Khadija case for 23rd January 2019. First day and the boss is in action,” it read.
Breaking news: Honourable Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa lists #KhadijaCase for 23rd January 2018. First day and the boss is in action. #TimeForJustice#KhadijaTheFighter
— Hassaan Niazi (@HniaziISF) January 18, 2019
Speaking to Pakistan Today, Hassan Niazi said that the entire legal team, including Khadija Siddiqi, were excited about the development and that morale in their camp had shot up.
“Justice Khosa is one of the best judges this country has seen. He has a very deep understanding of criminal law and we think he is the perfect person to hear this case” he said.
“This has been a long time coming, but we are finally going to the Supreme Court and are looking forward to it. We are sure that justice will prevail with the Chief Justice presiding, and this case will go to its logical conclusion.”
Expressing his confidence in the strength of their case, Niazi also said that they would accept whatever decision came from the country’s apex court.
Back when the case had first been taken up by the SC and forwarded to the Justice Khosa led bench, former chief justice Nisar had expressed annoyance at the Lahore High Court Bar Association’s undermining of SC by passing a resolution against the notice. “How did LHCBA pass a resolution against the apex court?” he asked.
Stressing that the apex court could see bar association politics at play, Justice Nisar had remarked that the ploy will be unsuccessful.