On Wednesday, the Sindh High Court while hearing contempt petition over detention of the accused of Daniel Pearl murder case; exempted Chief Secretary Sindh from appearance.

According to the details, Ahmed Omer Saeed and others had moved a contempt petition in the high court against their detention.

The court had issued notices to the Chief Secretary Sindh and others and sought the government reply over the issue.

The bench while granting exemption to the chief secretary, ruled that the home secretary and other officials would have to appear in the hearing. The court adjourned further hearing of the petition for two weeks.

Four convicts of the murder case, Ahmed Omer Saeed and others had moved the SHC challenging their convictions handed down by the Hyderabad Anti-Terrorism Court in 2002, after finding them guilty of abducting and killing American Journalist Daniel Pearl.

The ATC had handed death sentence to main accused Ahmed Omer Saeed Shaikh and life sentences to other three accused.

On April 2, this year, the court heard their appeals against the sentence after 18 years and acquitted Sheikh, Saqib and Nasim.

It commuted Sheikh’s death sentence to seven years and imposed a fine on him. Sheikh has already spent 18 years in prison on death row and his seven-year sentence for kidnapping was counted as time served.

The men were, however, detained under Section 11 EEEE (preventive detention for inquiry) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.