Supreme Court Upholds Life Sentence in Tipu Truckanwala Murder Case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has upheld the life imprisonment of Khurram Ijaz in the Tipu Truckanwala murder case, dismissing all appeals against the earlier ruling of the Lahore High Court.

In a detailed judgment authored by Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, the court maintained that the case was driven by personal enmity rather than terrorism. It ruled that committing a murder in a public place does not automatically qualify as an act of terrorism. The court also removed terrorism charges against the accused and upheld the acquittal of co-accused Syed Ahsan Shah, citing lack of evidence and benefit of doubt.

The incident occurred on January 20, 2010, at Allama Iqbal International Airport, where Arif Ameer, known as Tipu Truckanwala, was shot shortly after arriving from Dubai on a Pakistan International Airlines flight. He was later shifted to Mayo Hospital.

Earlier, an anti-terrorism court had sentenced Khurram Ijaz to death in 2011, but the Lahore High Court commuted the sentence to life imprisonment in 2019 — a decision now upheld by the Supreme Court, bringing the long-running case to a close.