KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has commuted the death penalty of an appellant into life imprisonment in a double-murder case.

The court observed that the debate about capital punishment was complex and involved legal, ethical and practical considerations, with many countries increasingly opting for life imprisonment as an alternative.

In May 2023, an anti-terrorism court had sentenced Mohammad Hashim alias Qari to death for killing a garment factory manager, Karim Hashwani, and his driver, Mohammad Nawaz, in North Nazimabad on Feb 18, 2015.

The convict, through his lawyer, challenged the trial court order before the high court and after hearing both sides and examining the evidence, a two-judge bench comprising Justice Omar Sial and Justice Miran Muhammad Shah converted the death sentence into a life term.

The bench in its judgment observed that the evidence on record has fully implicated the appellant as he was apprehended at the spot in the presence of eyewitnesses.

It also noted that as per the testimonies of eyewitnesses, the appellant had also opened fire upon a patrolling police party after committing the crime.

The delay in obtaining the FSL report of the crime weapon, recovered from the convict, has been well explained by the investigating officer and as such delay did not indicate any tampering with the evidence and in fact, the report was positive, it added.

The bench further said that the failure of prosecution or patrolling police party to associate private witnesses, as argued by defence, did not apply due to the circumstances faced by the public in the city these days as public is often reluctant to get involved in such cases, especially those of a heinous nature.

“Mere allegations that the PWs [prosecution witnesses] were inimical towards the accused or that he is a Hafiz Quran and was picked up by police in Sultanabad, do not weaken the credibility of the prosecution’s case”, it added.

However, the judgment stated that besides pleading for mitigating circumstances, the counsel for the appellant has also seriously questioned the motive for the murder as no strong motive was reflected apart from the use of the term “inimical”, for which no evidence was provided nor any specific reason for the enmity was mentioned.

Before diverging towards the conclusion, the bench said that it would like to put in its observations on the sentence of death penalty, its repercussions and its pros and cons for society at large.

“The death penalty debate centers on arguments for its use, including retribution, closure for victims’ families, and crime prevention, and arguments against it, which cite its potential for error (irreversibility), racial bias, lack of proven deterrence, and moral objections that it is cruel or a violation of human rights.

The debate is complex and involves legal, ethical, and practical considerations, with many countries increasingly opting for life imprisonment as an alternative”.

While citing various rulings of the Supreme Court about reduction/conversion of death sentence, the SHC noted that the pleadings of the counsel appellant can be considered and converted his death penalty into life imprisonment.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2025