KARACHI Oct 29: The anti-Terrorism Appellate Bench of the Sindh
High Court (SHC) on Wednesday concluded hearing arguments on the appeals of
10 activists of the defunct Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) against their
conviction in two separate cases of sectarian killing and reserved its
judgment.
The bench comprising Justice Ghulam Nabi Soomro and
Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany will announce judgement on a date to be fixed
later.
Two incidents of firing had
occurred on February 25, 1995.
According to prosecution appellants Mansoor Ali Babar,
Umer Hayat, alias Doctor, Syed Asif Ali, Muhammad Fazil, Muhammad Gulzar,
Khwaja Saleemuddin, alais Captian, Saleem, Muhammad Ahmed, and their
accomplices reached Imam Bargah Mehfil-e-Murtaza, Block III, PECH Society,
and asked the inmates to stand against the wall of the Imambargah. Then they
opened fire on them, killing 15 people on the spot. The Ferozabad Police on
the complaint of the only survivor Muhammad Hussain registered the case. The
same day they went to Imambargah ABl Fazal in PIB Colony and repeated the
same gory act, killing six people on the spot.
Accused Mansoor Ali Babar, Umer Hayat, Syed Asif Ali and
Muhammad Gulzar were initially arrested for keeping illegal arms. Later they
allegedly confessed of committing the two crimes before police and also
recorded their judicial confessions before a magistrate to this effect.
They were charge-sheeted before Suppression of Terrorist
Activities (STA) courts were functional at that time and an STA had convicted
all the appellants on November 27, 1995 and awarded them death penalty
besides other sentences including imprisonment and fine. Each of them was
sentenced to death on 15 counts in Imam Bargah Mehfil-e-Murtaza carnage case
and six times in Imam Bargah Abul Fazal Abbas
firing case.
The convicts filed appeals against their conviction in the
Sindh High Court and a bench, while setting aside their conviction on
technical grounds on August 30, 1999, had remanded the case to the trial
court for fresh trial.
The state, however, challenged this decision of the SHC in
the Supreme Court and a bench comprising Justice Shaikh Riaz Ahmed, Justice
Mian Muhammad Ajmal and Justice Javed Iqbal had reversed the SHC order and
directed the appellate court to hear the case on merit and decide it
according to law, leaving aside the technicalities. The appeals were heard
afresh by the present bench which reserved its judgment on Wednesday.
It was argued by defence counsels Azizullah K Shaikh,
Kazim Muhammad Ashraf and others on behalf of the appellants that they were
falsely implicated in case due to political motivation. They contended that
the alleged confessions recorded by prosecution were not sustainable in the
eyes of law as there were material irregularities committed by prosecution in
recording confession.
Additional Advocate-General Muhammad Sarwar Khan appeared
for the state.