ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by death row convict Saulat Mirza against return of his second review plea by the registrar’s office. Mirza is all set to be hanged in Mach Jail in Balochistan on Thursday.

Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk in his chamber took up the appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court office to return the second review petition moved by Advocate Sardar Latif Khosa on Jan 6 on behalf of Mirza.

The SC office had returned the appeal of Mirza citing reasons that a three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Syed Deedar Hussain Shah had already dismissed his earlier review petition on March 9, 2004. Even his mercy petition had been turned down by the president.

Mirza, a worker of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was condemned to death by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on May 24, 1999 for killing the then managing director of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) Shahid Hamid, his driver and a guard on July 5, 1997, in Defence Housing Authority, Karachi. He was arrested on Dec 10, 1998 from the Karachi Airport when he was returning from Bangkok to Karachi.

The black warrants against Mirza was issued by judge Mohammad Javed Alam of ATC-V requiring by the superintendent of Mach jail to hang the convict till death at 5.30am on March 19 under the supervision of a judicial magistrate after fulfilling all legal formalities.

Mirza had filed second petition in the Supreme Court pleading to revisit its Sept 14, 2001 judgment of turning down his criminal appeal against the Sindh High Court’s Jan 21, 2000, judgment of maintaining the death sentence awarded to him by the ATC.

In its 2001 judgment, the Supreme Court had held that the wife and son of Shahid Hamid being independent and uninterested witnesses had testified that they had seen Mirza firing at the deceased.

The petitioner had pleaded that he was arrested in December, 1998, and sentenced to death on May 24, 1999 after which he spent all his life in the death cell, adding he had undergone life imprisonment with remissions in the prison.

In Karachi, the Sindh High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking shifting of Saulta Mirza from Mach jail to Karachi.

The petition was filed by Mirza’s sister Nighat Khan who had prayed for his shifting to Karachi on the ground that all members of his family lived in the city and they were unable to visit Mach to meet Mirza.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M. Sheikh dismissed the petition, but directed the home secretary and provincial police chief of Baluchistan to ensure no hurdle was created in Mirza’s meeting with his relatives in Mach jail.

The bench also directed its office to fax the order to the IGP of Balochistan and the home secretary for information and compliance.

Published in Dawn March 18th , 2015

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