Criminal jurisprudence

2019 SCMR 372 SUPREME-COURT Judicial Precedent

S. 9(a)(vi)Constitution of Pakistan, Art. 25Administrator of Housing SocietyMisuse of authority in allotting and converting plotsCriminal jurisprudenceDefenceDiscrimination, plea of

Contention on behalf of accused that the action of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against him was discriminatory, as it had singled him out to the exclusion of the other hundreds of housing societies mentioned in the complaint letter sent to NAB by the Standing Committee of the Senate

Held, that it was a settled principle of criminal jurisprudence that challenging prosecution on the ground of discrimination by the State could not be a complete valid defence to absolve an accused from criminal liability arising from his actions or inactions

Any person charged for a crime was answerable for his own acts or omissions and had to defend himself in a trial for the said charged offence

Plea of discrimination raised by accused was legally incorrect.

2009 PLD 312 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE Judicial Precedent

"Plea-bargaining"Origin, concept, its classifications, scope and applicability

Plea of nolo contendere (accused person does not contest the charge but he also does not accept any responsibility for the outcome)

Origin, applicability and scope

Driving factors behind all classes of plea-bargaining are saving time of the court, cutting down the expenses involved in the trial and expeditious delivery of justice

Critical advantage of adoption of such a process is that the accused person feels satisfied with what he gets and this generally precludes the possibility of filing of appeal

`Plea bargaining' already stands formally introduced in Pakistan criminal justice system through S.25, National Accountability Ordinance, 1999

Under the Islamic system of dispensation of criminal justice in vogue in Pakistan many offences, including some serious offences like murder and hurt, are compoundable

Compoundability of such offences, particularly those of causing hurt, provide monetary compensation to the victim as the main sentence and imprisonment has been provided for such offences as an additional, but optional, sentence

Availability of an option about additionally sentencing an accused person to a term of imprisonment or not carries a big scope for introducing 'plea bargaining' in such cases without any legislative intervention at all

Detail of such offences and the sentences provided for in the Pakistan Penal Code recorded

High Court observed that availability of a room for plea bargaining in all such cases is quite obvious and such an opportunity should ordinarily be grabbed by the court upon its own initiative as it does not involve any legislative intervention

Plea of nolo contendere is not incompatible with the preexisting statutory law in Pakistan

Held, offering no contest for the purpose of avoiding a full trial may be recognized as different from admission of guilt and in all cases of hurt if the only punishment to be awarded to an accused person upon his conviction would be payment of the requisite amount of Arsh or Daman to the victim and if the accused person agrees to pay the requisite amount to victim without pleading guilty to the charge and at the same time without contesting the charge also so as to avoid a trial then ordinarily he should be convicted and sentenced accordingly straightaway without holding a full trial

Disposal of trial of hurt cases, in such a manner, is likely to fulfil the obligation of State under Art.37(d) of the Constitution regarding ensuring inexpensive and expeditious delivery of justice inasmuch as through such process the victim shall receive the requisite compensation promptly, the accused person shall be handed down his lawful punishment without necessary loss of time and the trial court shall be saved of the time and effort likely to be consumed in the trial which is to end in that result in any case

Overgrowing volume of criminal cases before courts in the country is already stretching the capacity of courts to its limits and the capability of judges to its edge and the issue therefore, abegs ingenuity and necessitates innovative approaches to deal with the problem

Principles.

2008 YLR 1891 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE Judicial Precedent

Criminal jurisprudenceLiability of accusedPrinciples

Almost all legal systems, and all enlightened philosophies of life including prevalent social systems, religions and sociologies manifestly behold a liability of an individual only for the acts and omissions for which he is personally responsible

Concept of substitution of accountability or substitution of convict is absolutely alien to criminal jurisprudence

Except for criminal act or omission of common object or common intention, an accused person cannot be roped in for joint liability

A person is to face the music and to suffer punishment or undergo the rigours of trial only for delinquency or the offence committed by himself

No person can be substituted or punished or even arrested for the fault of some other person even if it be his co-accused

Punishment or reward in the world hereafter is also only personal.

2008 MLD 1529 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE Judicial Precedent

Offence, preparation of

Preparation for an offence by itself does not constitute any offence at all.

2008 MLD 847 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE Judicial Precedent

Administration of justiceAppreciation of evidencePrinciple

While deciding a criminal matter it is the quality and not quantity of the evidence which matters.

2005 PCRLJ 1198 PESHAWAR-HIGH-COURT Judicial Precedent

Administration of justicePrinciple

Any number of accused may escape unpunished for lack of sufficient evidence or for the reason that the prosecution has failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt, but no innocent person should be convicted or punished for what he has not done.

2000 PCRLJ 47 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE Judicial Precedent

Substitution of accused in criminal case

Substitution is a rare phenomenon and one who alleges substitution must lay foundation for the same.

1995 PCRLJ 708 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE Judicial Precedent

Criminal jurisprudence

Every accused is presumed to be innocent unless proved otherwise.

1984 PCRLJ 1222 SUPREME-COURT-AZAD-KASHMIR Judicial Precedent

Criminal jurisprudence

Each case is to be decided in light of its own facts.