KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has upheld the life imprisonment handed down to a man and his son by a sessions court in a murder case.

An additional district and sessions court had sentenced Zoor Zameen Gul along with his son Mohammad Yousuf to life in prison in February 2019 for abetting and facilitating murder of his son-in-law Arshad Khan and causing injuries to his daughter Shabina in July 2017 over contracting a love marriage. The trial court had also awarded seven years imprisonment to both accused for committing the offence of attempted murder.

The convicts through their counsel challenged the trial court’s order in the SHC. After hearing both sides and examining the evidence, a single-judge bench comprising Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar dismissed their appeals and maintained the verdict of trial court.

In its judgement, the bench observed that the wounded woman was the only eyewitness who also sustained firearm injury and she deposed against her father and brother as well as a cousin, Mohammad Ishaq, an absconder in the case.

The appellants are residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and their arrival in Karachi along with the absconding accused duly armed with weapons had shown their motive to kill the victim, according to the judgement, which further said the woman testified that her cousin opened fire in the presence of both appellants.

The order noted that the appellants had nourished grudge against the deceased and they emerged at the crime scene along with co-accused which depicted common intention and prior concert of mind and being facilitators and abettors.

The testimony of eyewitness was duly supported by medical evidence, report of forensic science laboratory and other documentary evidence and the judgement of trial court was based on sound and cogent reasons and did not warrant any interference by this court, it concluded.

The prosecution had submitted in court that both sides hailed from KP and since the woman had contracted the marriage without her family’s consent, the accused came to Karachi from their native town [with ill intention].

They broke into the house of the couple on July 22, 2017 and opened fire at them which left Arshad dead and Shabina wounded, it added.

Another SHC bench issued its order in a narcotic substance possession case to maintain the life term awarded to two accused.

Accused Bakhtiar Ali and Sher Ali were convicted by a special court for control of narcotic substances in October 2017 for possessing 13.5 kilograms of heroin power while they were arrested in the Jackson area in July 2012.

The convicts had filed appeals against the trial court’s order. After hearing arguments and examining the record and proceedings of the case, the two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha dismissed their appeals.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2020