SHC dismisses death row convict’s appeal in murder case

The Sindh High Court on Tuesday dismissed the appeal of a death row convict in a dacoity-cum-murder case.

Ejaz Nawaz was sentenced to death by district and sessions court (East) in 2015 for murdering a man for resisting his cell phone snatching attempt. According to the prosecution, the appellant (Nawaz) along with his absconding co-accused intercepted Mudasir Hayat who had gone to drop his sister at university bus stop in Ibrahim Haideri on May 12, 2012, and tried to snatch his mobile phone.

On his resistance, the appellant fired at Hayat who died on the way to the hospital. Nawaz was caught red-handed by the onlookers as he was fleeing. In the SHC on Tuesday, the government prosecutor Iqbal Awan opposed the appeal and submitted that the appellant was caught red-handed on the spot by the area people and he did not deserve any leniency.

The SHC division bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto observed that the prosecution has successfully proved its case against the appellant and dismissed the appeal upholding the death sentence.

In a separate case, the SHC directed the federal and provincial law officers to file a detailed report about the allocation and utilisation of funds for the welfare of people living near oil and gas exploration areas.

Hearing a petition with regard to lack of provision of welfare funds to people of oil and gas exploration areas, the court directed the law officers to submit district-wise details about the welfare projects in health and education sectors from funds being provided by the oil and gas companies.

The court expressed dissatisfaction over the reports submitted by the deputy commissioners with regard to expenditure of funds and directed the concerned officers of the fund committee and representatives of oil and gas companies to appear with the relevant record.