| Citation(s) |
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| 2025 SLG 1373 2025 SLD 1373 = 2025 SCP 180 = 2025 SCMR 1558 |
JAIL PETITION NOs. 14 & 17 OF 2020 AND CRIMINAL PETITION NOs. 1322 & 1323 OF 2019 (On appeal against the judgment dated 21.10.2019 passed by the High Court of Balochistan, Quetta in Cr. Jail Appeal nos. 52/2018, 54/2018, Cr. Revision No. 44/2018 and Cr. Acquittal Appeal No. 337/2018 and Murder Reference No0.05/2018)
MR. JUSTICE ATHAR MINALLAH MR. JUSTICE IRFAN SAADAT KHAN MR. JUSTICE MALIK SHAHZAD AHMAD KHAN
Obaidullah Zubair Ahmed Wali Jan ...Petitioners
VERSUS
The State Obaidullah and another Zubair Ahmed and another ...Respondent(s)
Law: Pakistan Penal Code, 1860
Section: 302(b),34
Law: Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898
Section: 382-B, 164,342
Summary of the Judgement
The Supreme Court judgment concerns Jail Petition Nos. 14 & 17 of 2020, involving petitioners Obaidullah and Zubair Ahmed, who, along with co-accused Rafiullah, were tried for the murder of Abdul Razzaq under FIR No. 28/2018, registered under Sections 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The trial court convicted Zubair Ahmed under Section 302(b) PPC and sentenced him to death, while Obaidullah was sentenced to life imprisonment. Both were ordered to pay compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased. The High Court later converted Zubair Ahmed’s death sentence to life imprisonment and upheld the rest of the judgment. The Supreme Court examined the case, focusing on the reliance on circumstantial evidence and retracted judicial confessions.
Core Points
Nature of Evidence: The case was based entirely on circumstantial evidence, with no direct eyewitness testimony linking the accused to the crime1.
Judicial Confessions: The main evidence against the petitioners was their retracted judicial confessions, which, according to established law, must be corroborated by independent evidence to sustain a conviction1.