ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday upheld the sentence awarded to three convicts in the murder case of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq.

An IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aamer Farooq announced the verdict on the appeals filed against the conviction of the accused.

An anti-terrorism court had on June 18, 2020 convicted Syed Mohsin Ali, Moazzam Ali and Khalid Shamim and sentenced them to life-imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of Rs1.2 million each.

Following the upholding of conviction, Deputy Attorney General Khawaja Mohammad Imtiaz said the IHC order would be conveyed to the UK authorities. He said Pakistan would request the UK government to proceed against MQM founder Altaf Hussain in the light of the IHC judgement. “We will request the UK government to put Altaf Hussain on trial if they don’t extradite him to Pakistan,” he added.

DAG Imtiaz argued before the high court that with prior design and motive, Syed Mohsin Ali, along with Kashif Khan Kamran (absconding), was sent to the UK to silence the voice of Dr Farooq who was emerging as a potential threat to Altaf Hussain. He said the gruesome murder committed in London created a sense of insecurity among the general public, especially MQM workers.

The defence counsel argued that the bank record so presented also in no way suggested that any amount was directly transferred by his client to co-accused Mohsin Ali and Kashif Khan Kamran. The allegations of conspiracy and abetment levelled against the convicts were not proved because no date, place, time and manner were quoted by the prosecution regarding the hatching of conspiracy, the counsel argued.

The ATC had in its order noted that that the confessions of the accused persons, coupled with other strong incriminating evidence, established the facts that Dr Imran Farooq feared for his safety and had identified the top leaders of the MQM who were likely to kill him.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2022