ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday invoked sections of the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA) against the accused in the murder case of Barrister Fahad Malik.

An IHC division bench comprising of Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani set aside an order of an anti-terrorism court (ATC) which had absolved the accused from terrorism charges and remanded the case to the sessions court.

On Dec 21, 2016 ATC Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi had deleted the terrorism charges while accepting the plea of the suspects for removing the ATA’s sections from the FIR and sending the case to the sessions court. Jawad Sohrab Malik, the brother of the deceased through his counsel had approached the IHC and challenged the ATC order.

The Shalimar police had booked Arshad Mehmood, Noman Khokhar and at least eight other people after Malik was gunned down in F-10/3 in the early hours of Aug 15, 2016. Complainant Tariq Ayub, Malik’s uncle, was also injured in the attack, which took place near the Shalimar Police Station.

Three counsels for the suspects namely Mehmood, Noman Khokhar and Hashim Khan had questioned the jurisdiction of the court saying no fear and insecurity had spread in society because of the murder. They had alleged that the complainant party used influence to add section 7 of the ATA in the case.

The counsels had argued that the FIR did not constitute offence under section 7 as, as per the FIR, the incident took place at 3:30amat a desolated place, where not a single person was present and even people living in the nearby houses did not even come out and notice anything.

They maintained that section 7 could not be inserted where there was personal enmity and vendetta involved, adding that the case remains the same even if the nephew of a senator or an ordinary person is murdered but this was not happening in the present case. The complainant’s counsel said that it was not possible for an injured person to narrate all the things in one go, adding that a supplementary statement was added later on revealing that a car hit the wall of a nearby house following the indiscriminate firing by the suspects.

He added that the witnesses’ statements also revealed murder took place at a public place, people ran for their lives and they were in fear because of the firing. The act has an impact on public at large as it created helplessness among masses and constitutes an offence under section 7 of the ATA.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2018