SHC commutes murderer’s death sentence to life imprisonment

The Sindh High Court has dismissed the appeal of a convict in a murder case but commuted his death to life imprisonment.

Moosa was sentenced to death while co-accused Shan was sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court on July 22, 2016 for murdering Iqbal Shah and injuring two others.

According to the prosecution, the appellants were prosecuted for murdering Shah and injuring Mohammad Ali and Latif in Oragni Town on September 6, 2012.

One of the appellants’ counsel submitted that the prosecution failed to prove the motive for the killing, and requested the court to commute the death sentence of Moosa to life imprisonment. The state counsel supported the prosecution case.

A division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha dismissed the appeals of the convicts but commuted the death sentence of Moosa to life imprisonment as the prosecution failed to prove the motive.

Conviction set aside

The Sindh High Court set aside the conviction of a man in a rape case. Gulzar Shah was sentenced to death by a trial court for raping a 11-year-old girl on September 4, 2018. The appellant’s counsel submitted that the prosecution had failed to prove the case against the appellant as no evidence was produced against him. He submitted that no eyewitness had identified the appellant while the DNA test did not support the prosecution case. He sought acquittal of the appellant due to lack of evidence.

The court after hearing the arguments of the counsel and perusal of evidence observed that the prosecution failed to prove its case, set aside the conviction of the appellant and ordered releasing him if not required in other cases.