KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Monday put the law secretary on notice in two constitutional petitions, one filed by the parents of Shahzeb Khan against the replacement of a public prosecutor in their son’s murder case and the other by prime accused Shahrukh Jatoi who sought his trial under the juvenile law.
A division bench headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar also issued a notice to the prosecutor general in both petitions. The bench will hear the petition of the victim’s parents on Tuesday (today), while the petition of accused Jatoi will be taken up on April 4.
Ambreen Khan and Aurangzeb Khan, the parents of the 20-year-old victim, challenged the replacement of the special public prosecutor (SPP) in the Shahzeb murder case by the provincial law department.
The young man was shot dead over a minor dispute near his apartment in the Defence Housing Authority on Dec 25, 2012.
Shahrukh Jatoi, Nawab Siraj Ali Talpur, his younger brother Nawab Sajjad Ali Talpur and their house servant Ghulam Murtaza Lashari were booked and arrested in the case.
The victim’s parents, represented by Advocate Faisal Siddiqui, submitted in their petition that the accused persons had been indicted by the ATC that had also recorded the statements of the prosecution witnesses since March 8.
They stated that the court on March 15 was informed that the provincial law department had issued a notification replacing prosecutor Shahid Mehmood Arain by Advocate Muzaffar Solangi.
Their counsel submitted that prosecutor Arain was replaced although there was no objection to him by anyone.
He said that the investigation officer also expressed reservations over the newly appointed prosecutor in the case.
The victim’s parents asked the court to declare the impugned notification for replacement of the special public prosecutor illegal and reappoint him in the case.
The same bench adjourned the hearing of Jatoi’s petition to April 4.
The accused sought his trial under Section 5 (accommodation for juveniles) of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000.
His counsel, Akhtar Hussain, submitted that the date of birth of Shahrukh Jatoi was Nov 17, 1995 according to the B-Form issued by the National Database Registration Authority, the academic certificates and birth certificates issued by a private hospital and a zonal municipal committee.
He said that two passports issued to Jatoi also showed that he was an underage person.
The counsel stated that the ATC ordered an ossification test and other medical examinations for determination of the accused person’s age.
He said that the police surgeon issued a certificate to the effect that Jatoi’s age was between 17 and 18 years.
Advocate Hussain said that the ATC had expressed dissatisfaction over the police surgeon’s report and ordered the constitution of a medical board.
The counsel submitted that the investigation officer placed in court the document of his own choice and later Jatoi’s age was declared between 19 and 20 years.
He asked the court to direct the ATC to conduct the trial of Jatoi under the juvenile law.
Hearing adjourned
An anti-terrorism court adjourned on Monday the hearing of the Shahzeb murder case as the complainant challenged the replacement of the prosecutor in the high court.
When the matter came up for hearing on Monday, the advocate for the complainant informed the court that they had challenged the replacement of the prosecutor in the SHC and it was fixed for hearing at noon.
The trial court put off the hearing and again took up the matter in the afternoon. However, the counsel for the complainant moved an application for adjournment stating that the SHC would now take up his petition on March 19 at 8:30am and currently it had not been decided which prosecutor would proceed with the matter.
Subsequently, Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon of the ATC-III adjourned the hearing till Tuesday.
The law department had removed public prosecutor Arain from the present case and appointed Advocate Solangi to plead the case on March 15.
