Court sentences man to death over murder of chartered accountant

SWABI: A local court on Wednesday sentenced a man to death and imposed a fine of Rs1 million for the murder of a young chartered accountant, Kamran Khan, 35. Additional Sessions Judge-II Liaqat Ali, while announcing the judgment, awarded the death penalty to the convict, Jawad, and imposed a fine of Rs1 million on him. Kamran Khan was murdered on September 1, 2023, in village Ambar, district Swabi. According to the three-page detailed judgment, the prosecution succeeded in proving the charge against the accused, Jawad, beyond any reasonable doubt through circumstantial, trustworthy, and confidence-inspiring evidence. Therefore, the accused has been convicted and awarded the death penalty (on one count) for committing Qatl-e-amd of the deceased under Section 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) as Tazir. The court ordered that the convict, Jawad, son of Shoaib, be hanged by the neck until death, subject to confirmation of the sentence by the Peshawar High Court (PHC). It further stated that the convict shall also be liable to pay a fine of Rs1, 000, 000, which, if recovered, shall be paid to the legal heirs (LRs) of the deceased under Section 544-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The amount shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue, and in case of default, the convict shall undergo an additional six months of simple imprisonment. The court also convicted the accused under Section 324 of the PPC for making an ineffective firing at the complainant, Ijaz, and sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs50, 000. In case of default in payment of the fine, he shall undergo an additional three months of simple imprisonment. The court ordered that all sentences of imprisonment shall run concurrently, and the benefit of Section 382-B CrPC shall be extended to the convict. The judgment further directed that a murder reference be submitted forthwith to the Peshawar High Court under Section 374 of the CrPC, and clarified that the death sentence shall not be executed unless confirmed by the PHC. All concerned authorities, including the local police, have been directed to update their records in accordance with the judgment. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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