SHC relieves death sentences in Shahzeb murder case into life term

KARACHI: A bench of the Sindh High Court on Monday changed death sentences awarded to Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur into life imprisonment in 2012 Shahzeb murder case, ARY News reported.

The court announced its verdict on their appeals against conviction in murder case.

Murder of university student Shahzeb Khan on 24 December 2012 in Karachi, sparked country-wide outrage against the abuse of power by the wealthy and influential in Pakistan.

The bench, however, upheld the sentences of two other convicts in the case, Sajjad Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari, who were sentenced to life in jail.

The bench also rejected the appeals of convicts about out of the court settlement with the family of Shahzeb Khan.

SHC bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Nazar Akbar, heard the arguments of the lawyers of the accused and reserved its verdict on their appeals on March 11, 2019.

Twenty-year-old Shahzeb Khan, was gunned down on the night of December 24, 2012 in Karachi’s Defence Housing Society.

The incident had sparked widespread outrage across the country and attracted media attention, prompting the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo motu notice of the murder.

Jatoi, and his friend Siraj Talpur were sentenced to death in June 2013, while two co-accused Sajjad Talpur and their cook Ghulam Murtaza Lashari were awarded life in prison by an anti-terrorism court.