A sessions court in Karachi on Tuesday began conducting the retrial of the Shahzeb Khan murder case as per the Sindh High Court's order. On November 28, the high court had revoked the punishments previously awarded to Shahrukh Jatoi and three others in the case and ordered a retrial. The SHC had made the decision while hearing a criminal review application filed by Shahrukh Jatoi's lawyer, Advocate Farooq H Naek, on August 2016.
In 2013, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) had awarded the death penalty to co-accused Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur for Shahzeb's murder. Siraj's younger brother, Sajjad Ali Talpur, and his servant, Ghulam Murtaza Lashari, had been handed life sentences.
A couple of months after the sentence, however, Shahzeb's parents had issued a formal pardon to the convicts. The pardon was approved by the SHC as was pointed out by Sindh prosecutor general at the last hearing at the high court. As the retrial commenced on Tuesday, the sessions court was informed of the pardon and sought a report on the pardon from the high court. The court remarked that both parties will be summoned with regards to the pardon.
The court ordered that the documents pertaining to the pardon should be verified and submitted before it. A verified copy of the high court's order to revoke the punishments against the accused was also sought. The case was adjourned till January 5.
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