- Kareem Nawaz Khan was acquitted of murder charges after securing pardon from heirs of the slain
A two-member bench of the Supreme Court has stayed the execution of four murder convicts who were scheduled to be hanged in Mianwali and Lahore Kot Lakhpat jails on August 5.
The bench comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Dost Muhammad on Monday heard review petitions of the convicts; Kareem Nawaz Khan, Attiqur Rehman, Azhar Basheer and Shabbir Bashir, and stayed their execution which had been awarded by anti-terrorists courts (ATCs) of Sargodha and Lahore.
Per details, Kareem Nawaz Khan killed his brother, sister and sister-in-law over a family dispute and was awarded death penalty by the trial court. An ATC of Sargodha had awarded death penalty to Khan under Section 302 of CrPc and Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act. The Lahore High Court and Supreme Court had upheld his conviction.
Later on, the heirs of the deceased pardoned Khan and he was acquitted of murder charges.
During the course of proceedings, Khan’s counsel Abid Saqi contented that the pardon was also applicable on other charges since it has been accepted in the main office. He pleaded the court to set aside the death warrants issued by ATC.
After hearing Saqi’s arguments, the bench granted stay against the execution of death sentence and adjourned hearing of the case to a date in office.
In another case, the apex court also stayed the execution of Attiqur Rehman, Azhar Basheer and Shabbir after hearing their review petition. A Lahore ATC had awarded them death penalty which the superior courts had upheld.
