SC lawyer pleading Imran’s treason case shot dead in Quetta

QUETTA/ ISLAMABAD: Senior Supreme Court lawyer Abdul Razzaq Shar was shot dead by armed motorcyclists on Airport Road on Tuesday. Police said Shar was on his way to the Balochistan High Court (BHC) when he was attacked by unidentified people on three motorcycles. “According to eyewitnesses, he was travelling in his relative’s vehicle,” the official said. Shar was immediately rushed to the Quetta Civil Hospital but succumbed to his injuries on the way. He sustained 16 bullets. Police have cordoned off the attack site and an investigation was underway to arrest the suspects. Quetta Bar Association President Abid Kakar announced a complete boycott of the BHC and lower courts along with a three-day mourning. Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Ataullah Tarar held PTI Chairman Imran Khan “directly responsible” for the murder. He claimed that the targeted killing was related to a treason case against Imran, which Shar was pleading. A division bench of the BHC, comprising Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Muhammad Amir Nawaz Rana, had heard Shar’s petition on May 29 seeking the former prime minister’s trial under Article 6 of the Constitution.

Advocate Shar had pleaded that Imran had violated the Constitution by advising the president to dissolve the National Assembly, and thus, should be tried under Article 6. The BHC bench, after the initial hearing, had issued notices to Additional Attorney General Rauf Atta and Deputy Attorney General Muhammad Naeem Kasi and directed them to submit a reply on the next hearing scheduled for June 7. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, the SAPM alleged that Imran “got the lawyer killed to protect himself from the treason case”. Terming his killing murder of law, Tarar lamented that Advocate Shar was gunned down in broad daylight and promised to conduct a thorough investigation into the murder. “Imran will be nominated in this murder case,” the PML-N leader said. “The PTI has become a militant and terrorist outfit… Imran won’t be able to save himself in this case.” “You will have to come and attend every hearing and also surrender if ordered by the court,” he asserted.

The SAPM further said that the Balochistan government and law enforcement agencies had been directed to probe the killing and leave no stone unturned in the investigation. On the other hand, the PTI rejected the “baseless and futile allegations” made by the SAPM against the party chairman and demanded that a case be filed against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah for the killing. In a statement released on Twitter, the party also requested the Supreme Court to take immediate notice of the incident and dismiss the false accusations levelled against the former premier.