SHC hears second plea for Shahrukh Jatoi to be tried as a juvenile

Karachi

The counsel for death-row convict Shahrukh Jatoi, on Wednesday, for a second time requested the Sindh High Court (SHC) to hold a retrial under the juvenile justice system since the convict was below 18 years of age at the time of the crime.

He was sentenced to death for the murder of a private university student, Shahzeb Khan, on the night of December 24, 2012 in DHA.

The appellant’s first application was rejected by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on June 3, 2013 after a special medical board’s team confirmed that he was between 19 to 20 years old when he committed the crime.

His counsel argued that the trial court did not examine either Jatoi’s birth certificate, B-form or his educational or identification documents which proved that he was below 18 years of age.

The trial court was ordered by the SHC to re-examine the case after reviewing relevant official records, including the convict’s passport.

He maintained that documentary evidence of Jatoi’s age should have been given preference to in the wake of disparity between the medical board’s and police surgeon’s ossification test report; the latter maintained that he was between 17 and 18 years old.

The counsel submitted that the medical board was not given any specific explanation or informed of a standard that defined the particular specification of bones and teeth during different stages of life.

He further contended that old methods were used to determine the convict’s age while modern scientific techniques in place were ignored.

The trial court was also claimed of having ignored the principles laid down by superior courts in which an ossification test was a mandatory requirement for determination of age.

The court was prayed to set the trial court’s order aside and declare the applicant a juvenile, and try him under the juvenile justice system.

However, requesting the court to dismiss the application, assistant prosecutor general Iqbal Soomro submitted that the medical board had declared the applicant’s age to be between 19 to 20. The counsel of the complainant Syed Mehmood Alam Rizvi sought time to file a statement in court. SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Abdul Rasool Memon granting time to the complainant’s counsel adjourned the hearing till September 2.

Jatoi’s accomplices Nawab Siraj Ali Talpur, his brother Nawab Sajjad Ali Talpur and their guard Ghulam Murtaza Lashari were given a life sentence by the ATC on June 7, 2013. Prosecution alleged that Lashsari, had eve-teased Khan’s sister resulting in a quarrel between them; however, the matter was resolved due to intervention of Shahzeb’s father, Aurangzaib Khan, a DSP.

According to the prosecution, accused followed Khan who left the house in his vehicle after the brawl, and later on instigation of absconding co-accused, Asif Lund and Salman Jatoi, Shahrukh opened fire at Khan after intercepting his car at Khyaban-e-Behria, near Mubarak Masjid.