Law: Penal Code (XLV of 1860)

Section: 302

Law: Constitution of Pakistan, 1973

Section: 185(3)

Penal Code (XLV of 1860)   ---S.302--Constitution of Pakistan (1973, Art.l85(3)— Leave to appeal--Sentence of death--Extenuating/mitigating circumstances-- Return of abuses--Effect of--Accused- appellant going to shop of deceased and showering abuses on him--Deceased also paying him in same coin--Deceased was given Chhuri blow by accused--Prosecution case based on two eye-witnesses, medical evidence, recovery of blood-stained Chhuri from accused and evidence of motive--Accused was awarded capital sentence by Trial Court--High Court gave accused benefit of doubt and reduced sentence on ground that there were extenuating/ mitigating circumstances in favour of accused for lesser penalty because deceased had also abused him before he was attacked and as such possibility that act of deceased provoked accused could not be excluded--Contention raised that in circumstances of case where Court had believed prosecution version as put forward by eye-witnesses, reasons recorded by High Court could hardly be called a mitigating circumstance, and that if this view was upheld, a murderer can always escape the major penalty by the device of provoking his victim by hurling a few abnoxious filthy and insulting abuses at him, to which, the latter would naturally react by returning abuses--Leave to appeal granted to consider whether reasons recorded by High Court for holding that the aforementioned acts constituted mitigating circumstances were proper. ORDER ASLAM RIAZ HUSSAIN, ACTG. C.J.--Petitioner seeks leave to appeal against the judgment of the Lahore High Court dated 31-3-1985 whereby it reduced the sentence of Muhammad Afzal respondent from death to that imprisonment for life. 2. The respondent was tried alongwith one Muhammad Qayum for having murdered Muhammad Ashraf (deceased). The motive for the murder was stated to be that Muhammad Ashraf had to take some money from Muhammad Afzal accused but whenever the former demanded the money Muhammad Afzal accused put him off on one pretext or the other. On the morning of the day of occurrence Ashraf deceased went to the shop of the accused Muhammad Afzal and demanded the money, whereupon Afzal accused abused and threatened…

Deprecated: trim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/digixyei/sldsystempk.com/view/master-layout/view_case.php on line 492