SC dismisses plea seeking abolition of death penalty

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a constitutional petition, seeking abolition of the death penalty in the country.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, dismissed the petition, filed by Barrister Zarullah Khan. The petitioner had filed the petition in July 2011, praying that hundreds of prisoners were languishing in the jails on a death row and many of them were innocent.
He said that moratorium on death penalty remained effective due to European Union pressure, adding the Article 9 of Constitution has not been drafted properly. He said the death sentence in Islam is only for three crimes, but in Pakistan laws, there are 27 crimes for it.