KARACHI, July 27: Pre-admission hearing of Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh’s appeal against the death penalty awarded to him in the case of kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, has been fixed for Aug 13 before the anti- terrorism appellate of the Sindh High Court.
Counsel for Omar Abdul Waheed Katpar, who had filed the appeal on July 19 praying for setting aside the impugned judgment and hearing of the appeal at Karachi, said the matter had been first fixed on Aug 8, but in view of his engagement in some other court, the SHC fixed the matter on Aug 13.
On July 15 the Special Judge at Hyderabad had pronounced the judgment. He had awarded death penalty to Omar whereas his three alleged accomplices, Fahad Nasim, Syed Salman Saqib and Shaikh Muhammad Adil, were given life term. Their appeal against life term was filed by Rai Bashir who has also been put on notice for the same day.
Earlier, the Advocate-General, Sindh, Raja Qureshi, had filed the state’s appeal for the enhancement of their sentence, i. e., from life term to death.
Mr Katpar has taken a position that the impugned “judgment is against law and facts” and therefore should be set aside. He has filed the appeal on the ground that the prosecution’s case was “inadmissible, not proven, untrustworthy evidence, lacking credence and has been relied upon to draw incorrect inferences and to record erroneous findings, for recording unsound conviction and sentence.”
It is the case of the appellant that the prosecution evidence failed to establish the commission of any offence under sections 365-A, 120-A and 302 of PPC and section 7 of the Anti-terrorism Act of 1997. Hence the conviction was contrary to law and facts.
He has also claimed that benefit of doubt has not been given to the appellant. The conviction was unwarranted and the sentence awarded to the appellant was illegal.
Rai Bashir Ahmad filed the appeal on behalf of Fahad Nasim, Syed Salman Saqib and Shaikh Muhammad Adil a day after the state had moved the court for the enhancement of their sentence from life term to death.
“There is not even a single piece of evidence against the appellants to prove the offence of which they have been convicted, hence the judgment should be set aside,” said advocate Rai Bashir after filing the appeal.
The state had filed an anti-terrorism appeal seeking death penalty for the three accomplices of Omar, who were given life term for complicity in the case.
Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the judgment pronounced by the ATC judge at Hyderabad in Special Case No 26/02, the advocate-general Sindh had filed the appeal with the Sindh High Court for enhancement of sentence of Fahad Naseem, Syed Salman Saqib and Sheikh Muhammad Adil, who were convicted and sentenced under section 7 of the Anti-terrorism Act of 1997 to life imprisonment.
After filing the appeal Mr Qureshi had said that “overwhelming incriminating evidence has actually come on record” in respect of the three accused who had been awarded a lesser punishment than what was prescribed by law being normal punishment.
It is the case of the state that the case set up by the prosecution against the four accused was and is based on conspiracy, in furtherance of which separate acts were committed by all the four accused with the common intention as well as the meeting of the minds, falling within the concept of criminal conspiracy.
