ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued a stay order against the execution of murder convict Shafqat Hussain on Tuesday just a day before he was scheduled to be hanged.
The court stayed the execution until the case is not decided after the Judge termed the inquiry conducted by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to determine the age of the convict as ‘illegal’.
Justice Athar Minallah, during a hearing of a case related to Hussain’s age, observed that the federation had created doubts by ordering FIA to conduct an inquiry after the matter was decided by the Supreme Court.
“The process of determining age by the federation was illegal,” observed the court, adding that if it was so necessary then the agency should have sought permission from the apex court before setting up the inquiry committee.
When asked who ordered the inquiry, the state counsel said that the FIA conducted the inquiry on the orders of interior ministry. “Can the person who ordered the inquiry appear before the court and confess that his order was in violation with the Supreme Court’s verdict,” asked Justice Minallah.
The state counsel argued that even if the inquiry was not conducted, the fundamental rights of the petitioner would not have been violated as his conviction and sentence had already been upheld by the superior court.
To this, Justice Minallah questioned how it would impact the president, the federation and the courts if Hussain was found a minor after his execution as his death warrants were issued while the inquiry was being conducted.
Subsequently, the court ordered a stay of Hussain’s execution till the case was pending before the court. The hearing will now resume on May 6.
Hussain was arrested and sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in 2004 for the kidnapping and murder of a seven-year-old boy in 2001 from an apartment building in Karachi where he was working as a guard.
His execution has been delayed three times as confusion over whether he was a juvenile when convicted or not remains unclear.
