The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday issued directives to wrap up the trial in the high-profile murder of social activist Perween Rehman within a month. Perween Rehman, head of the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP), was gunned down near her office in Orangi Town on March 13, 2013.

According to the details, Justice Umar Atta Bandial headed the bench of the Supreme Court that heard the case.

The bench noted that the trial has been experiencing delays for the last 20 months.

The lawyer, representing the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) informed the apex court that five men were named as suspects in the case.

Top Court was informed that a suspect Qari Bilal was killed in an encounter with police and was blamed for the murder of Perween Rehman.

However, a lawyer told the court that Bilal had no connection with the murder of Perween Rahman.

Pir Muhammad Shah, head of a joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe the murder case, stated before the court that statements of witnesses had been recorded and the trial could not proceed further due to the SC’s hearing the case.

Justice Bandial, to this, observed that the apex court had not passed any stay order, halting the trial.

After hearing the arguments, the top court ordered to conclude the trial in one month.