Law: Pakistan Penal Code (PPC),1860

Section: 302(b), 393

Law: Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984

Section: 54, 161, 173, 342, 382(B)

Law: Code Of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Section: 544-A

Summary

The High Court allowed the criminal appeal of Muhammad Iqbal alias Bali alias Jhatal and set aside his convictions under Sections 302(b) & 393 PPC, holding that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The appeal in respect of co-accused Altaf alias Allah Ditta and Naeem Bakhsh stood abated due to their deaths.

The Court found the FIR doubtful due to unexplained inconsistencies regarding the time of receipt of information and non-production of the police official who allegedly carried the rukka for registration of FIR. The ocular account was disbelieved because the incident occurred at dusk in December and the prosecution failed to establish any source of light, while the eyewitnesses were strangers to the accused. The identification parade was held unreliable owing to prior exposure of the accused to witnesses, contradictions regarding physical features (height and age), and impermissible joint identification in a single parade.

The medical evidence contradicted the prosecution version as blackening around the firearm injury was inconsistent with the alleged firing distance shown in the site plan, thereby falsifying the presence of eyewitnesses. The alleged recovery of the weapon of offence was rendered meaningless as the PFSA report excluded it from matching the crime empties. The prosecution further failed to establish the alleged motive of robbery, as no property was taken from the complainant or deceased. Serious contradictions regarding the place of occurrence and collection of blood-stained earth on a metaled road further weakened the prosecution case. On cumulative assessment, benefit of doubt was extended to the appellant.