SC disposes of 238 death sentence cases in 7 months

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has disposed of 238 death sentence cases in almost seven months.

According to press release issued by the SC PRO on Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has attained an unprecedented acceleration in the disposal of death sentence cases under the stewardship of Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi after taking oath on 28 October 2024, the progress till 21 May 2025, stands at 238 death-sentence appeals disposal —roughly over 52 percent of the 454 cases.

When the chief justice took office, 410 death-sentence cases were pending, 44 new appeals were instituted, bringing the figure to 454, but swift fixation and disposal have cut it down to 216 as of today. By comparison, in the same period a year earlier, only 26 such appeals were resolved.

This turnaround stems from the chief justice’s strategic focus on long-pending extendable hours to hear these cases. Three dedicated benches were constituted which worked for many weeks back to back: Bench I, headed by Justice Athar Minallah with Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan; Bench II, led by Justice Muhammad Hashim Kakar with Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi; and Bench III, chaired by Justice Naeem Afghan with Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Aamer Farooq.

The statement said that the judges comprising these benches convened prolonged sittings frequently extending beyond normal court working hours. The unwavering commitment of the judges has culminated in the huge disposal of all death appeals instituted up to 2024.

The Court will now proceed as next phase to the cases of life-imprisonment appeals, preferential hearing such cases where the convict has already served two-thirds of the sentence— an approach designed to afford prompt relief to deserving appellants while reinforcing public confidence in the even-handed administration of criminal justice.

The Supreme Court acknowledges the valuable cooperation of counsel, prosecutors, prison officials, and families whose patience and professionalism resulted in this progress. Their combined commitment demonstrates that, with focused and collaborative resolve, the justice system can translate in commendable output.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025