SC disposes off Mashal Khan suo motu notice

The Supreme Court (SC) disposed off on Tuesday the suo motu notice pertaining to Mashal Khan lynching case after an anti-terrorism court (ATC) sentenced the suspects two weeks ago.

According to local media reports, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar, who headed the three member bench, said that as the verdict had already been announced and punishments were given to the convicts, there was no need to continue the court proceedings.

The CJP was also informed by a law officer from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa that the provincial government had filed an appeal against the acquittal of some accused persons.

Mashal Khan’s family files petition, challenges ATC verdict

On February 7, an ATC had announced its verdict and sentenced one of the prime suspect Imran to death, while sending five suspects to prison for 25 years. Whereas, the ATC had acquitted 26 of the suspects involved in the case while awarding three years of imprisonment to 25 other suspects in the case.

Mashal, a 23-year-old student of mass communication and media studies at Abdul Wali Khan University, was lynched by a mob on April 13, 2017 after blasphemy allegations. The video of his murder, which circulated on social media, was also presented as evidence in front of the court.