ISLAMABAD, Nov 1: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued non-bailable warrants of eight accused in Hakim Said murder case, and directed the Sindh government to keep them in Central Jail Karachi till the decision of the apex court on the state appeals against their acquittal.

On the appeal of state through Advocate General Sindh in which it impugned Sindh High Court judgment of acquitting all the nine accused in Hakim Said murder case on the benefit of doubt, the SC bench granted leave to appeal with a view to scrutinizing the whole evidence in the case.

Those who would again go behind the bars, if released in the light of SHC judgment on May 31, 2001, are Muhammad Amirullah, Ezazul Hasan alias Wazir, Muhammad Zubair Hussain, Muhammad Asif, Nadeem Mota, Muhammad Faisal, Abu Imran Pasha and Mohammad Shakir.

The Advocate General Sindh, Raja Qureshi contended that all the accused were awarded death sentence by the trial court for the murder of Hakim Mohammad Said, Hakim Abdul Qadir and Wali Mohammad.

The AG Sindh stated that the prosecution case against respondents stood proved beyond any reasonable doubt in view of the confidence-inspiring ocular evidence furnished by the natural as well as injured witnesses.

The division bench of Sindh High Court, the AG stated, have misread the ocular evidence which had resulted in grave miscarriage of justice. He emphasised that SHC had not considered the material that was available rendering the findings as “artificial, shocking and ridiculous.”

The SC bench, after hearing AG Sindh, held: “In the instant case, prima facie reading of the evidence shows overwhelming proof against the acquitted accused, disclosing misreading of evidence resulting into grave miscarriage of justice.”