KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has declared that killing of Shahnaz Ansari, a PPP member provincial assembly (MPA) of Sindh from district Naushero Feroze was not an act of terrorism rather it was a murder due to a family feud.

The MPA was was shot dead in the Darya Khan Marri area of Naushero Feroze in February 2020.

Police had initially included provisions of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) against the accused in first information report (FIR) and in charge-sheet prepared under section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and sought their trial by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC).

The accused persons filed application before the ATC under section 23 of the ATA for transfer of case to the sessions court and after its dismissal by the Sukkur bench of the Sindh High Court.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Nazar Akbar and Justice Faisal Kamal Alam gave split judgment with Justice Nazar Akbar allowing the petition while Justice Faisal Kamal Alam rejecting it.

The matter then was referred to Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro to decide it as a referee judge. Justice Kalhoro in his five-page judgment agreed with the Justice Akbar, maintaining that the content of the FIR clearly mentioned that there was dispute over property left by the husband of Shabana, sister of the deceased MPA and accused were her family members.

The referee judge relying the judgments of the apex court, held that though the murder of the MPA caused shock and grieve and insecurity in the locality, it was not aimed to destabilize the government for political, religious or ideological gains which were necessary to bring the incident into the ambit of terrorism.