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Daniel Pearl murder case: SC rejects Attorney General's plea to suspend verdict ordering release of accused

Daniel Pearl murder case: SC rejects Attorney General's plea to suspend verdict ordering release of accused
February 1, 2021

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the plea of Attorney General seeking suspension of the SHC verdict ordering release of the accused, including Ahmed Omer Sheikh, in the Daniel Pearl case.

The court also sought the order sheet of the proceedings of the Sindh High Court. It also directed the attorney general to present the details of the reasons of releasing the accused.

On Saturday, the Federation had decided to become a party along with the Sindh government.

On Friday, the Sindh government had filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of main accused in the case. The SC rejected appeals filed by the Sindh government and ordered the release of the main accused in the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

The Sindh government had approached the apex court against an order of the SHC overturning the conviction of Ahmed Omar Sheikh.

A three-member bench of the SC headed by Justice Mushir Alam announced the verdict with a 2-1 majority. “The court has come out to say that there is no offence that he has committed in this case,” Mahmood Sheikh, who represented Sheikh, told AFP.

In April 2020, the SHC had overturned the death sentence of Omer Sheikh and sentenced him to seven years in prison and acquitted three others accused — Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib — who were earlier sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court (ATC).