Chief Justice sends Khadija Siddiqui stabbing case to Supreme Court bench for hearing

LAHORE: The Supreme Court of Pakistan disposed of the suo motu notice on Khadija Siddiqui’s stabbing case on Sunday, forwarding it to another apex court bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa for hearing.
“Since Khadija Siddiqui has challenged the acquittal of the accused in the Supreme Court, the suo motu notice is disposed of. A bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Mr. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, will take up the case in the coming week,” Chief Justice Saqib Nisar announced.
Khadija Siddiqui, a young law student, was allegedly attacked by her class fellow, Shah Hussain, who stabbed her multiple times and left her critically injured two years ago in broad daylight.
A case was registered against the accused, who is also the son of an influential lawyer, and a judicial magistrate handed him a seven-year prison sentence. Subsequently, a sessions court took up the case on the appeal of the disputing parties and reduced the sentence to five years.
The two sides once again filed petitions in the Lahore High Court, where Siddiqui submitted that she had been subjected to a heinous crime and prayed that the maximum punishment be given to the accused.
Hussain, on the other hand, pleaded his innocence and requested acquittal.
In response, a high court bench including Justice Sardar Naeem acquitted him.
The court observed in its judgment that while “injured witnesses are not disbelieved,” Siddiqui had not “described the true/complete tale of the occurrence” and her account “could not be relied upon with any amount of confidence.”
Justice Naeem gave Shah Hussain the benefit of the doubt.
The decision was criticized by a large number of people, prompting the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice and fix the case for hearing on Sunday.
The Chief Justice expressed his displeasure on a resolution passed by the Lahore High Court Bar Association, which was moved by the father of the accused, Syed Tanveer Hashmi. It maintained: “The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) should chart rules on suo motu powers of the higher judiciary and in the cases where the parties have the right of appeal against the decision, the court should not take such notices.”
Addressing the mover of the resolution, Justice Saqib Nisar said his bench did not care about such resolutions by the bar.
“You must not involve the bar in this matter. I do not care about such resolutions. Justice will be done in the case. You have initiated a movement against the judiciary. How dare you do this?” he said.
“I know you belong to South Punjab and have relations with the governor; but it will not impress the court and the case will be decided on merit,” Justice Nisar continued.
Khadija Siddiqui told the court that the accused and his family had launched a smear campaign against her. The court asked the accused not to issue statements in media.