Law: Pakistan Penal Code, 1860

Section: 302, 302(b)

Law: Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898

Section: 544-A

Law: Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984

Section:

Summary The Supreme Court of Pakistan dismissed the petitioner’s leave petition and upheld his conviction for murdering Mst. Sakhian Bibi. Although the eyewitnesses stated that five shots were fired while the post-mortem showed seven firearm wounds, the Court held that this minor discrepancy did not discredit them because it was a natural limitation of perception during a sudden, traumatic shooting. The Court also cautioned courts against accepting eyewitness accounts that describe each bullet’s exact trajectory and impact with unrealistic precision. Core Points The petitioner, Muhammad Azhar, was convicted under Section 302(b) PPC as Tazir for the murder of Mst. Sakhian Bibi; the Trial Court awarded death, but the High Court modified it to life imprisonment. The prosecution relied mainly on two natural eyewitnesses—PW-7 Muhammad Shahzad, the deceased’s son, and PW-8 Muhammad Ashraf, her brother-in-law—who were present at the house during the daylight incident. Their relationship to the deceased did not make them unreliable; close relatives are often natural witnesses in domestic-crime cases, and their consistent account of the assailant, weapon, close-range firing, and main injury areas inspired confidence. The eyewitnesses said five shots were fired, but medical evidence recorded seven firearm entry wounds; the Court treated this as a minor, non-material discrepancy caused by shock, panic, and ordinary human perceptual limits. The Court emphasized that evidence must be assessed cumulatively and according to the facts of each case, not by rigidly applying a fixed standard to witness behaviour. The Court warned against witnesses claiming microscopic accuracy about each bullet’s flight path and anatomical landing point, referring to the “Weapon Focus Effect” and the impossibility of visually tracking high-velocity bullets in real time. Leave to appeal was refused in both J.P. 424/2021 and Crl.P.L.A. 1567-L of 2021; the High Court’s reduction of death to life imprisonment was held plausible, and no case for sentence enhancement was made out. Law and Sections Law / Provision Subject Application in the Judgment…