KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday directed several former police officers to ensure presence of their lawyers on the next date of hearing as it will proceed with a 13-year-old appeal against their acquittal in Mir Murtaza Bhutto murder case.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, adjourned the hearing till Jan 23.

It also directed the SSP-East to verity the death of five respondents after the court was informed that they had been passed away during pendency of appeal.

The then DIG Shoaib Suddle, director-general of Intelligence Bureau Masood Sharif, SSP Wajid Durrani, ASP Shahid Hayat, ASP Rai Mohammed Tahir, SHO of the Napier police station Inspector Agha Mohammed Jameel, sub-inspector Shahbbir Ahmed Qaimkhani, ASI Abdul Basit, head constables Faisal Hafeez and Raja Hameed and around 10 constables were among the acquitted accused persons and impleaded as respondents in the appeal.

SHC fixes Jan 23 for hearing pleas against acquittal of police officials in 27-year-old murder case

At the outset of the hearing, Wajid Durrani and five other respondents turned up while counsel for Shoaib Suddle and three others assured the bench that they will appear at the next hearing.

The additional prosecutor general informed the court that Masood Sharif, Shahid Hayat, Agha Jameel, Shabbir Qaimkhani and Constable Muslim Shah had passed away.

The bench asked the SSP to verity their deaths and file verification report at next hearing while a number of lawyers filed power (vakalatnamas) to represent seven respondents.

Adjourning the hearing till Jan 23, the bench in its order said, “Respondents are directed to ensure presence of their counsel on the next date as this is old appeal of 2010 and it shall proceed on the next date”.

Murtaza Bhutto, the chief of the Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto, along with his seven associates and supporters, was killed on Sept 20, 1996 near his Clifton residence in an alleged shootout with police.

Noor Mohammad, an associate of Murtaza Bhutto, had filed an appeal in January 2010 in the SHC against the judgment of a sessions court which had exonerated around 20 accused persons.

It may be called that former president Asif Ali Zardari was also among the accused, but the SHC had exonerated him in April 2008.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2023