Shahrukh Jatoi, accomplices arrested as SC orders retrial in Shahzeb murder case

• Top court says SHC bench will hear any appeal filed by civil petitioners within two months while ATC will hear case from scratch
• CJP Nisar says victory sign Shahrukh Jatoi flashed made a mockery of judicial system and people of the country

KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) decision from last year ordering a re-trial of the Shahzeb Khan murder case, and ordered the arrest of all the accused.

The top court ordered that a new bench of the SHC will hear any appeals in the case filed by the civil petitioners within two months, while the case against the accused — Shahrukh Jatoi, Siraj Talpur and Sajjad Ali Talpur — will now be heard by the anti-terrorism court (ATC).

“Evidence and arguments will be heard from scratch,” the SC ruled, adding that the bails of the accused were against the law.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Maqbool Baqar, wondered how the SHC had discarded the SC’s 2013 decision wherein it was mentioned that the case against Shahrukh Jatoi and other accused should be conducted in an ATC.

The court ordered SHC to hear an initial plea of the accused to remove death sentence and directed the court to pass a verdict in two months based on the merits of the case.

The SC also restored anti-terrorism clauses in the case which were earlier removed by SHC.

Dismissing the SHC’s earlier verdict, the three-judge bench ordered that the names of the accused be put back on the Exit Control List (ECL) to prevent them from fleeing the country.

The Islamabad Police, who took the accused in custody from the courtroom, will hand them over to the Sindh Police.

In his remarks, the chief justice also said that the victory sign made by Jatoi during one of his initial appearances before the court made a mockery of the judicial system and the people of the country.

“The victory sign [Jatoi flashed] has led to his downfall,” Chief Justice Nisar remarked.

Justice Nisar said that according to Article 187 of the constitution, the court has the right to ensure justice is provided. The chief justice also asked whether a settlement could be acceptable in a terrorism case.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa inquired whether a suo motu notice can be taken on the release of the accused at which the accused’s counsel said that he would welcome a suo motu notice.

“The court will not review the entire case in the suo motu,” the chief justice replied.

Latif Khosa also claimed that his client was subjected to oppression as he was kept in a death cell for five years and was not even allowed to give his examinations as he was deemed a dangerous criminal.

He also argued that the court should not accept petitions seeking dismissal of SHC decision as the justice system will suffer a setback if civil petitioners were allowed an appeal in a criminal case.

The debate on whether Shahzeb’s murder constitutes as an act of terrorism continued in the SC, with the counsel of the accused, Latif Khosa, arguing that the FIR [First Information Report] had mentioned that the incident was an escalation of a fight between children. He said the allegation is that Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur both shot Shahzeb once.

“This is not an allegation but a fact,” Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar corrected Khosa.

Shahrukh’s counsel said his clients had accepted that they were in possession of a pistol at the time of the incident but that they had only shot in the air. He added that his client has sympathy for the victim, which is why they have apologised to the family and also paid Diyat (blood money).

Khosa suggested that his client was being prosecuted for belonging to an affluent family. He told the court that the victim was also the son of a deputy superintendent police (DSP) and had slapped the accused first.

Khosa said there were multiple instances of the SC removing anti-terrorism act (ATA) sections, to which the chief justice countered that there were also many cases where terrorism sections were added by the apex court.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said the issue was that the SC had itself sent the matter to the trial court earlier.

The police arrested all three accused from the court following the decision.

During Wednesday’s hearing, the apex court questioned how a third party could be allowed to appeal when the parents of 20-year-old Shahzeb, who was shot dead in Karachi in December 2012, or the state, had not appealed against the SHC verdict which set aside terror charges against the suspects.

The bench also questioned if the case pertained to terrorism, and expressed concern that allowing a third party to challenge judgments could lead to exploitation.

ACTIVISTS’ APPEAL: 

The SHC had in November 2017 set aside punishments awarded to the accused by an anti-terrorism court while ordering a retrial of the case in a sessions court. The order was passed after considering a review petition filed by one of the defendants’ lawyers. The lawyer had argued that terrorism charges should be dropped from the case as the prime suspect was a juvenile at the time of the crime.

Following the SHC’s decision, civil rights activists had moved the SC submitting that the gruesome murder of the university student had spread terror and created fear, panic, helplessness and insecurity among people residing in the DHA and Clifton areas, as well as the public in general of Karachi and Pakistan.

“Hundreds of people had come out on the streets demanding justice for the deceased on the grounds that the same could happen to their children also. This is because such unfortunate incidents are prevalent in our society,” said the applicants.

They had recalled that the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) had also dismissed the accused persons’ plea seeking transfer of the case to the sessions court in March 2013. The SHC had also earlier upheld the ATC order on the transfer plea and ruled: “We, therefore, hold that act of accused Shah Rukh Jatoi created sense of helplessness and insecurity amongst the people of the vicinity and did destabilise the public at large.”

The applicants said that as such, provisions of Section 6 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 are fully justified in being applied to this case. Therefore, the present case should fall within the jurisdiction of an Anti-Terrorism Court.

On December 23, 2017, Jatoi, the son of an influential feudal, and other defendants in the Shahzeb Khan murder case, were released from custody on bail after Shahzeb’s father submitted an affidavit in support of the defendant’s bail application.

Shahzeb was gunned down by Jatoi in a posh locality of Karachi on December 25, 2012.

An ATC in 2013 had awarded death sentences to Jatoi and Siraj Talpur for the murder of Shahzeb, while life sentences were awarded to Sajjad Ali Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari.