KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Saturday allowed extension to the prosecution department for the fifth consecutive time to file the final charge sheet against two Pakistan Peoples Party lawmakers and over a dozen others allegedly involved in the Nazim Jokhio murder case.

MPA Jam Awais, his elder brother MNA Jam Abdul Karim, their two foreign guests, servants and guards have been booked for abducting and murdering 27-year-old Jakhio at the lawmaker’s farmhouse in Malir on Nov 3, 2021.

Victim’s brother Afzal Jokhio had nominated the lawmakers and others for the murder of Nazim Jokhi, who earned the ire of influential persons for stopping their foreign guests from hunting houbara bustard.

On Saturday, the matter came up before Judicial Magistrate (Malir) Altaf Hussain and held lawmaker Jam Awais and others were produced from prison amid tight security.

Since December 21, 2021 the court had been allowing extension to the prosecutor for submission of the final charge sheet.

Investigating Officer Inspector Siraj Lashari had in interim charge sheet held both PPP lawmaker, their foreigner guests and around 18 employees responsible for the murder.

At the outset, the IO maintained that he had already submitted the final charge sheet with the prosecution department.

However, a state prosecutor informed the magistrate that the final charge sheet had been sent to Sindh Prosecutor General Faiz Shah for the purpose of scrutiny.

He said that the prosecutor general’s opinion about the jurisdiction for trial of the case was sought since an additional district and sessions judge had recalled interim bail of five suspects observing that the offence prima facie fell within the definition of terrorism, thus the ordinary (sessions) court had no jurisdiction to hear the bail pleas.

The prosecutor maintained that the charge sheet would be submitted to the court once it was received from the prosecutor general’s office.

He requested for one-week time.

The magistrate expressed extreme displeasure at the prosecution for causing inordinate delays in submission of the final charge sheet despite getting extra time.

The court directed the deputy district public prosecutor Wahid Ansari to ensure the submission of the final charge sheet on Jan 26.

IO Lashari also submitted that some reports of chemical analysis had been received, adding that the samples of the blood found on a ‘quilt’ had successfully matched with that of the victim, but the blood samples found on the ‘stabs’ were found to be negative.

He added that the report of forensic analysis of the victim’s cell phone had been received, which suggested that the data of calls made and received to this device could not be retrieved since it was badly burnt.

However, he added that the report of the forensic analysis of another cell phone of the victim’s friend, Advocate Mazhar Junejo, to whom the victim had sent audio/video messages as well as the video clip of quarrelling with MPA Jam Awais and his visiting foreign friends, had not yet been received.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2022