| Citation(s) |
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| 2026 SLG 4189 = 2026 SLD 4189 |
Cr.A.No.439-P/2025
Presented By: (MUHAMMAD IJAZ KHAN) JUDGE
Present: Mr. Shabbir Hussain Gigyani, Advocate, for the appellant. Mr. Mushtaq Rahim, AAG, for the State. Mian Arshad Jan, Advocate, for the respondent / complainant. Date of hearing: 04.02.2026
Mushtaq Ali Appellant
VS
The State and another Respondents
Law: Pakistan Penal Code (PPC),1860
Section: 302(b)
Law: Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898
Section: 544-A, 382-B, 342
Tagline
“Conviction under Section 302(b) PPC set aside where the sole minor eyewitness was found unreliable, his presence at the scene was doubtful, motive was unproved, and forensic evidence did not connect the recovered pistol with the crime empties.”
Summary
The appellant Mushtaq Ali was convicted under Section 302(b) PPC for allegedly firing upon and killing his former wife, Mst. Rubina, and was sentenced to life imprisonment with Rs.700,000 compensation.
The High Court examined the prosecution evidence and found the conviction unsafe primarily because the prosecution case depended substantially upon a 6/7-year-old alleged eyewitness, Abubakar (PW-5). His presence at the place and time of occurrence was doubtful: the record showed that he ordinarily resided with his biological father at another village, was a school-going child whose school timings conflicted with the alleged occurrence at 9:00 a.m., and there were material inconsistencies regarding the place of occurrence.