Malir prison chief told to explain failure to produce Shahrukh Jatoi for hearing

The superintendent of Malir prison has been issued a show-cause notice by a court for failing to produce Shahrukh Jatoi, the key accused in the 2012 Shahzeb murder case, for a hearing.

While hearing a fraud case against Jatoi and others on Wednesday, the judicial magistrate (Malir) took exception to the superintendent’s failure to produce the accused for a hearing despite court orders.

The magistrate ordered the superintendent to reply to the show-cause notice and appear in person on March 29 along with the detainee, Shahrukh Jatoi. Earlier, the lawyers for the prison authorities had told the court that it was not possible to produce him in court because of security issues.

In a hearing in February, the attorney for the accused had submitted before the court that his client was in the prison on the Supreme Court’s orders. The court had then directed the prison authorities concerned to present a jail report and also issued production order to bring Jatoi to the court.

The fraud case being heard by the judicial magistrate was registered by the Federal Investigation Authority against Jatoi for escaping from the country using fake documents after murdering Shahzeb Khan on December 25, 2012, following an altercation, and against Nawab Jatoi, Umar Domki and Abu Bakar Domki for assisting him.

The attorney for FIA had told the court that five years have passed but the accused has still not been indicted in the fraud case because he had failed to appear before the court. The prosecution claims that Jatoi flew to Dubai on Dec 27, 2012, according to the Dubai immigration entry stamp on his passport. The lack of any exit stamp by the immigration authorities at Karachi airport confirmed that the accused left the country in a fraudulent manner with the help of government officials. Jatoi was brought back to the country a couple of weeks later after he reportedly surrendered himself.

The Judicial Magistrate (Malir) has already granted bail to Shahrukh in the sum of Rs100,000 in the fraud case but he is being kept under detention on the orders of the apex court.

An anti-terrorism court had convicted Jatoi and his co-accused in 2013 but last year, while hearing an appeal, the Sindh High Court struck down the verdict and ordered a retrial in a regular court. However, the Supreme Court of Pakistan took notice of Jatoi’s acquittal and ordered that he remain in custody till the disposal of the murder case.