The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday took up a petition seeking the speedy conclusion of the Mustafa Amir murder trial, with Justice Iqbal Kalhoro reiterating that the high court had already directed that proceedings be expedited.
Investigation Officer Muhammad Ali informed the bench that the anti-terrorism court handling the case was currently without a presiding judge following the completion of the previous judge’s tenure.
The SHC also referred to a report from the jail superintendent stating that prime accused Armaghan had refused to receive a court notice.
“Concerned court has not been functional, to whom we issue the instruction,” the bench observed.
Justice Kalhoro questioned the continuing delays in the case, saying: “We receive pleas for an early completion of the case, it is incomprehensible, why they don’t want to proceed the case.”
The petition seeking faster proceedings was filed by Mustafa Amir’s mother.
Her lawyer told the court that, during an earlier hearing, the defence counsel had been directed to appear in the case.
The bench observed that if the accused himself was refusing to receive the notice, his lawyer would appear when instructed by him to do so. The court subsequently ordered that a fresh notice be issued to the defendant.
An earlier report submitted by the trial court to the SHC had attributed delays in the proceedings to Armaghan and his lawyer.
A high court bench comprising Justice Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Abdul Rehman had previously directed the trial court to complete proceedings in the Mustafa Amir murder case at the earliest.