Shahzeb murder case: Govt to challenge Shahrukh Jatoi’s acquittal

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has announced to challenge the acquittal of Shahrukh Jatoi as well as his accomplices in the Shahzeb Khan murder case, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

According to details, the federal government has decided to challenge the Supreme Court’s (SC) challenge of acquitting Shahrukh Jatoi as well as his accomplices in the Shahzeb Khan murder case.

In a statement, Attorney General’s (AG) Office said that a petition would be filed with the Supreme Court (SC) to reconsider its verdict. The statement said the opinion of the Attorney General’s Office was not sought before acquitting Jatoi.

“There were provisions of terrorism included in the murder case,” the AGP’s Office said, adding that in the decision of Jatoi’s acquittal, the Supreme Court’s conclusion deviates from the judicial decisions related to the crime of terrorism.

Therefore, the case should be reviewed in view of the components of compromise, fasad-fil-arz (mischief on earth), and other matters.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court (SC) acquitted Shahrukh Jatoi and his accomplices in the 2012 Shahzeb murder case. They were sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in 2013 but later the high court converted Jatoi’s sentence into a life term.

At the outset of the hearing today, Jatoi’s lawyer Latif Khosa argued that his clients were languishing in jail for the last eight years despite an agreement with the Shahzeb family.

He told the court that his clients had no intention to spread terror.

Shahzeb murder case

Shahzeb, 20, was shot dead on the night between December 24 and 25 in 2012 in a posh locality of Karachi.

Shahrukh Jatoi was involved in the killing of Shahzeb Khan, the only son of a retired DSP, in Defence Housing Authority. An ATC handed him a death sentence in 2013.

In 2017, the complainant side had ‘pardoned’ him under the Qisas and Diyat law. However, in 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan took notice of it. Subsequently, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Sindh High Court (SHC).