The Supreme Court (SC) acquitted on Tuesday Shahrukh Jatoi as well as other accomplices in Shahzeb Khan's murder case, Aaj News reported.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan, heard the case. During the hearing today, their lawyer Latif Khosa said that the formal pardon had already been issued, adding that his clients had no intention to spread terror.

Subsequently, the top court also acquitted Siraj Ali Talpur, Sajjad Ali Talpur, and Murtaza Lashari.

Shahzeb, son of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, was gunned down on the night of December 24, 2012 in Karachi’s Defence Housing Society for picking a fight with one of the suspects’ servants, who had verbally threatened and harassed his sister.

Seven people, including Shahrukh, Siraj, Sajjad, and their employee Lashari, were booked in the murder case.

An Anti-Terrorism Court handed Jatoi and Siraj a death sentence in 2013. The court had handed life sentences to Sajjad and Lashari.

However, in 2017, the complainant side, Shahzeb's parents, had ‘pardoned’ Jatoi, approved by the Sindh High Court (SHC), under the country’s Qisas and Diyat law.

Shahzeb murder case: SC to hear pleas of Shahrukh Jatoi, others on Monday

Despite the pardon, however, the death penalty had been upheld because of the addition of terrorism charges to the case.

The SHC later dropped the charges and ordered a retrial in the case.