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A petition requesting to abolish the death penalty in Pakistan has been moved in the Supreme Court on Monday. The petitioner, Barrister Zafarullah, who represents the Watan Party, contended that the right to life was a natural right embodied in Article 9, whereas unnatural termination of life was incompatible and inconsistent with the concept of "right to life", reports The Dawn. Zafarullah added that most of the countries have converted death punishment to imprisonment to life and he pleaded that it should be done in Pakistan too. Zafarullah pleaded the apex court to hear the cases of 8000 prisoners, who were given death sentence, and convert it to life imprisonment. Earlier in July 2011, Zafarullah had told the court that as the criminal justice system of the country had been affected by overwhelming corruption in society, there were increased chances of innocents being declared guilty. He requested the court to abolish the death penalty, as it was unconstitutional and save innocent people who were wrongfully convicted because of the corrupt system.

Petition moved in SC to abolish death penalty in Pakistan