KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has commuted the death penalty of an appellant into life imprisonment in a case pertaining to the murder of his two brothers-in-law.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Omar Sial noted that the testimonies of two female eyewitnesses was confidence-inspiring, but the investigating officer (IO) recorded their statements after a month and never recorded testimony of a best possible witness till his death.

It also observed that the ability and expertise of investigators to collect forensic evidence was alarming as blood stains were found at the crime scene in the present case, but IO claimed that it was not possible to collect a sample.

A sessions court had sentenced Aijaz Badshah to death in May last year for killing his brothers-in-law Iftikhar and Abid at his house in a Keamari locality in October 2020.

The convict through his lawyer challenged the trial court order before the high court and after hearing both sides and examining the evidence, the divisional bench commuted the death sentence into life term.

The bench in its judgement stated that testimonies of both the ladies, mother and sister of deceased, found to be confidence-inspiring, but the IO did not record their statements under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) till one month while the statement of the injured Abid, the best possible witness, was never recorded by the IO till his death.

It said: “The delayed recording of section 161 statements and the failure to record the statement of the injured Abid are areas we have closely examined”.

An additional prosecutor general explained that the lapses occurred due to negligence of the IO and perhaps ulterior motives as well as the illiteracy of the complainant’s family, it added.

The bench also noted that blood stains were found at the crime scene, though the IO at trial testified that it was not possible to collect a sample.

“The ability and expertise of investigating officers to collect forensic evidence is alarming, yet we are not inclined to hold it against the aggrieved family. Bullet empties recovered from the place of the incident, and then the same are matched with the pistol recovered from Aijaz, also tilting the balance against him,” it added.

The appellant in his statement, recorded at trial, asserted that the two brothers had actually come to kill him and his wife while he was framed as he had married their sister against the will of her parents, but the bench said that the appellant could not produce a single witness to support his claim.

It further noted that the appellant was arrested in an injured condition which reflected that a scuffle took place between three men in which Aijaz was also beaten which prompted him to open fire on the two brothers as the shooting was not premeditated and occurred suddenly and in the heat of the moment.

According to the prosecution, complainant Azam Khan’s sister Bushra had contracted marriage with the already married Aijaz in 2019 and on Oct 16, 2020 his mother and another sister went to meet Bushra, but the appellant did not permit.

The ladies came back home and informed the family which prompted complainant’s two brothers to accompany their mother to Bushra’s house, but the appellant opened fire on both brothers, killing Iftikhar on the spot and injuring Abid, who died a month later, it maintained.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2025