PHC suspends death sentence by military court

PESHAWAR: A division bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday suspended the death sentence awarded to a man by the military court on terrorism charges and directed the Ministry of Defence to submit report in the case.

A bench comprising Justice Qalander Ali Khan and Justice Ayub Khan also directed the authorities to submit the record of the case in the court. One Halima Bibi of Naguman village in Peshawar district had approached the PHC that her son Rawaz Khan went missing in September 2016 and was later found at the internment centre in Kohat. She maintained that the military court awarded death sentence to Rawaz Khan on terrorism charges without giving him a chance of free trial.

Through her lawyer Gohar Rehman, Halima Bibi told the court that they were informed about the death sentence awarded to her son a few days back. She asked the court to stop the authorities from executing her son as he was never given a chance to hire a lawyer. The court suspended the death sentence and directed the authorities to submit reply as well as the record of the case in the court.