Police extrajudicial executions are not justified by a citizen’s criminal history: SHC

The Sindh High Court (SHC) decided on Saturday that police extrajudicial killings cannot be justified by a citizen’s criminal history.

While considering a petition about the alleged murder of a missing citizen during an alleged staged police encounter, the court issued a written order.

During the proceedings, the petitioner’s counsel argued that the victim, Shah Mir, was taken into police custody and later killed in a fake encounter.

The state prosecutor retorted that the challan in the case had already been filed before a trial court and that the deceased was a habitual offender.

However, the court observed that the sequence of events appeared to support the allegation that the encounter was suspicious. According to the record, the petition was filed on January 15, while the alleged encounter took place on January 17.

The SHC underlined that protection against torture and human dignity are provided under Article 14 of the Pakistani Constitution.

It stated that the police are responsible for presenting suspects before a court of law rather than acting as judge, jury, and executioner.

The court warned that allowing such actions would undermine the very purpose of the judicial system.

Referring to the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, the court ruled that investigations in such cases fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and ordered that the inquiry be immediately transferred to the agency.

The SHC further directed the FIA to complete the investigation within 30 days in accordance with the law, and to record statements of the petitioner and other witnesses.