Two persons convicted in the Perween Rahman murder case has moved the Sindh High Court against their conviction by an anti-terrorism court, Dawn reported on Monday.

Last month, the ATC in Karachi had awarded life imprisonment to four accused – Mohammad Raheem Swati, Amjad Hussain Khan, Ayaz Shamzai and Ahmed Khan alias Pappu Kashmiri – in the murder case of social activist Rehman.

The court had sentenced the four to life imprisonment after holding them guilty of “facilitating, aiding and abetting the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan men for the murder of the rights activist.”

The trial court had also awarded a seven-year term to the fifth accused Mohammad Imran on a charge of concealing evidence.

Rahman, the former head of the Orangi Pilot Project, was shot dead near her office on Manghopir Road on March 13, 2013.

Raheem and his son Imran, through their counsel, have challenged their convictions in the SHC and the court has issued notices to the prosecutor general Sindh on their appeals.

The counsel contended that his clients were incriminated in the case as nothing had recovered from their possessions. The trial court did not consider the “material facts” available before it, including contradictions in the testimonies of prosecution witnesses, the lawyer added.

It had become doubtful because there was no private/independent witness, the counsel argued, alleging that the trial court had treated the issue as a “policy matter” and pleaded to set aside the convictions.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro sent a notice to the prosecutor general and sought a paper book from its office till the next hearing of the appeal.

Murder

The case against the murder was initially registered at the Pirabad police station under sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code. However, the Supreme Court ordered a judicial inquiry that was conducted by the then-district and sessions judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon. Thereafter Section 7 — the punishment of acts of terrorism — of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 was added to the FIR.

Investigation into the murder case revealed that Rehman was murdered by hitmen for Rs4 million.