Enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings intolerable: Justice Minallah

ISLAMABAD: Justice Athar Minallah, a judge of the Supreme Court, has held that enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, custodial torture and murders, and excessive use of force are the most intolerable crimes in a democratic society and the worst form of violation of the Constitution, which guarantees the fundamental rights.

“There can be no tolerance for such acts and conduct by the law-enforcement agencies and its members and would warrant imposing the severest punishment when guilt is proved,” says a 26-page dissenting note of Justice Athar Minallah. He rejected the appeal of the convicted Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel, Shadiullah, against his death sentence. He declared the act an extrajudicial, custodial killing and an act of spreading corruption on earth (“fasad fil ardh”).

A three-member SC bench, headed by Justice Athar Minallah, and comprising Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed Khan, had accepted the appeal of Frontier Constabulary personnel, Shadiullah who was convicted for killing a young university student, Mohammad Hayat in Turbat (Balochistan), while he was in the custody of members of a paramilitary force.

The court, by majority of 2-1 (Justice Athar Minallah dissenting) had maintained the conviction of Shadiullah under Section 302(b), PPC, awarded by the trial court and upheld by the High Court but converted the death into imprisonment for life.

In his dissenting note, Justice Minallah held that when a law-enforcement officer becomes a murderer of a citizen, he deserves the harshest possible punishment. The judge dismissed the convict’s excuse that he acted out of anger and suspicion after his comrades were injured in a bomb blast, saying it was unacceptable.

The judge further stated that showing any leniency or sympathy in such cases promotes lawlessness in society. Extrajudicial killings are also a serious violation of the Constitution and fundamental rights. According to Justice Minallah, the convict’s guilt was fully proven through his confession and forensic evidence.

He remarked that such criminals pose a threat not only to society but also to state institutions. According to the FIR, an improvised explosive device had been thrown at an FC convoy in Turbat, injuring some personnel. Near the site, the deceased Hayat’s parents were working in a field, and he was on his way to deliver them food when the convict, Shadiullah, and other FC personnel detained him.

Shadiullah then shot Hayat eight times with his service rifle, in full public view, in front of his parents, killing him on the spot.

“Extra-judicial custodial killing of an innocent citizen by a member of the law-enforcement agency or paramilitary force would attract the most severe punishment,” Justice Minallah held adding, “Deterrence, retribution, reformation, restitution of harm suffered by the victim and the community are essential goals of punishing a convict by imposing an adequate sentence.”