ISLAMABAD – The federal government has decided to file a review petition against the acquittal of Shahrukh Jatoi in Shahzeb murder case.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court of Pakistan acquitted Jatoi and his accomplices in 2012 killing of the 20-year-old in Karachi.
During the hearing, Shahrukh’s counsel Latif Khosa apprised the court that both parties had reached an agreement.
The case was initiated after former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry took a suo motu notice following uproar across the country over the murder of a young boy.
Around a year after the murder, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) awarded the death penalty to Shahrukh and Siraj Talpur, while Sajjad Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari were given life imprisonment.
The prime accused had also been handed down an additional three years in prison.
Later, Shahzeb’s parents issued a formal pardon for the convicts, approved by the Sindh High Court (SHC). Despite the initial pardon, the death penalty had been in wake of the addition of terrorism charges, until the SHC dropped the charges and ordered a retrial in the case.
The high court had later commuted the death sentences into life imprisonment. Subsequently, all four accused had approached the Supreme Court for acquittal in the case.
The Attorney General of Pakistan has drafted a letter to express concern over the acquittal of accused persons in the case.
The draft of the letter, according to Geo News, states the opinion of the Attorney General’s Office was not sought by the top court before the decision to acquit Shahrukh Jatoi, adding that the Supreme Court has already declared the case as an important constitutional matter.
In the acquittal case, the Supreme Court has reached a conclusion that deviates from the judicial decisions on the crime of terrorism, it said.
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