KARACHI – Sindh High Court on Monday ordered the release of all convicts in the Parveen Rehman murder case, declaring their sentences null and void.
Reports in local media suggest the court approved appeals of Ayaz Swati, Raheem Swati, Mohammad Amjad, and Ahmed Khan alias Pappu Kashmiri against the anti-terrorism court verdict.
All convicts are to be released from jail if not needed in any other case, the court said while hearing the plea filed against the lower court verdict.
Last year, an anti-terrorism court awarded life sentences to four suspects in the murder case of social activist Parveen Rehman.
Ayaz Swati, Raheem Swati, Mohammad Amjad, and Ahmed Khan were awarded double life imprisonment. Another accused was awarded seven years in jail for being an accomplice in the murder.
Parveen, the director of the Orangi Pilot Project was gunned down at the Banaras flyover near her office in Orangi Town on February 13, 2013.
Initially, the murder case was registered at the Pirabad police station under Sections 302 of premeditated murder and 34 common intention of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Initially, investigators claimed to have killed the alleged mastermind of her assassination, a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan operative identified as Qari Bilal, in an encounter. Later, other suspects were apprehended by Karachi police.
