ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court delayed the execution of Shafqat Hussain on Tuesday in response to a petition filed filed by the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) which called for a judicial inquiry into the age of the death row convict, stayed his hanging until its verdict was issued.

Shafqat was scheduled to face the gallows on May 6 after an anti-terrorism court (ATC) had issued his death warrant on April 24 following an executive inquiry by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) which concluded that he was not a minor when the punishment was handed down.

Read: Twist in death-row convict’s case

During today's hearing, Justice Athar Minallah inquired as to who had given the orders to hold the inquiry to ascertain Shafqat Hussain's age. The government lawyer told the court that the inquiry was conducted on the orders of the interior ministry.

The court observed that following the Supreme Court's 2003 orders, the FIA's investigation into Hussain's age was illegal.

Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), which was managing Shafqat's defence, had filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court expressing dissatisfaction over the FIA’s investigation into its client's age.

Dr Tariq Hassan, the petitioner’s counsel, had pointed out that the Supreme Court in 2003 had dealt with an identical matter where a death-row convict was seeking benefit under the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000. He said the apex court had held that only a judicial forum can determine the age of an accused.

Also read: Shafqat Hussain to be executed on May 6

Hearing the petition last Friday, Justice Athar Minallah had issued notices to the president, the prime minister, FIA, jail authorities and other parties, giving them 15 days to respond.

Hussain was working as a watchman in the sprawling, violent metropolis of Karachi in 2004 when a seven-year-old boy went missing from the neighbourhood. A few days later the boy's family received calls from Hussain's mobile demanding a ransom of half a million rupees ($8,500 at the time), according to legal papers.

Hussain was arrested and during his first interrogation admitted kidnapping and killing Umair, whose body was found in a plastic bag in a stream.

He was sentenced to death in 2004.

Hussain later withdrew his confession, saying he had made it under duress, but the case came before an anti-terrorism court which sentenced him to death.

However, in late 2014, members of the civil society contended that Shafqat was a juvenile at the time of the incident after the government lifted the moratorium on capital punishment.

Reintroducing the death penalty was part of Pakistan's move to step up the fight against militants since a Taliban massacre at a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar in December.

Shafqat had been due to face the noose on January 14 but the government halted the execution amid protests about his age, and ordered an investigation.

Also read: Shafqat's execution stayed for 30 days, jail authorities tell ATC

He was then set to be executed on March 19 but a day before the sentencing civil society representatives gathered in front of the presidency against the order. The hanging was subsequently postponed for 72 hours and then for 30 days.

Also read: FIA inquiry concludes Shafqat ‘wasn’t a minor’

Death warrants for Shafqat Hussain were issued for the third time on April 24 after an executive inquiry by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) concluded that he was 23 years of age when the punishment was handed down.