Activists file petition against SHC's ruling in Shahzeb murder case

Civil society activists approached on Tuesday the Supreme Court against Sindh High Court's (SHC) order that had revoked punishment given to the suspects, Shahrukh Jatoi and others, for their involvement in the murder of Shahzeb Khan.

A petition has been filed by 10 civil social activists in the SC registry, challenging SHC’s verdict which stated that the murder case does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The activists include Muhammad Jibran Nasir, Jamshed Raza Mahmood, Afiya Shehrbano Zia, Naeem Sadiq, Nazim Fida Hussain Haji, Zulfiqar Shah, Aquila Ismail, Fahim Zaman Khan, and Naziha Syed Ali.

If justice is our mutual concern then its pursuit should also be our collective responsibility. Appeal has been filed. Please see the Press Release by the Appellants giving the reasons and grounds based on which we have filed appeal in #ShahrukhJatoi case in Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/D2L89e0xbl

— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) December 26, 2017

The members in their petition have stated that as they reside in Defence Housing Authority, where the murder took place, they have the right to appeal. They said that incident was not just of an individual nature and created fear and panic among residents of the area.

SHC orders retrial in Shahzeb Khan murder case

They also appealed in their petition that the judgment of SHC regarding the murder case should be suspended and all the accused should be arrested and taken into judicial custody.

After SHC's verdict on December 23, Jatoi was released from Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where he was getting treatment under custody, while Sajjad Ali Talpur and Siraj Ali Talpur were released from Central Prison Karachi. On behalf of Jatoi and the Talpur brothers, a lawyer deposited a bail of Rs500,000 for each of the accused.

Shahzeb’s father, Aurangzeb Khan, had asked the sessions court not only for the release of the accused but also to drop the case against them completely.