Murder Case

Conclusion of guilt must be reached by collective application of various species of circumstantial evidence, with one end of the chain touching deceased individual and the other touching the neck of accused individuals

If any link in such chain is absent, the entire chain is disrupted and no conviction can be recorded in such a situation.

In absence of source of light mentioned in FIR and recovery of such source, the identification of accused becomes questionable.

F.I.R. lodged in a murder case at the crime spot without plausible reasons was considered to be suspicious and in such a case, the entire evidence was to be re-appraised with extra degree of care and caution.

Petitioners said to have formed themselves into an unlawful assembly and assaulted complainant party in prosecution of common object in haveli of deceased and as a result complainant side and petitioner's side receiving 44 injuries and 20 injuries respectively-Counsel for petitioners contending inter alia, (i) that Courts below had erred in holding that all the accused persons admitted the occurrence; (ii) that no distinction between case of non-injured accused and injured accused was made by Courts below; (iii) that the very fact that a number of persons had gathered at. residence of deceased without any plausible explanation for their presence gave support to defence plea that complainant side were the aggressor, and (iv) that in view of such features of prosecution case, prosecution had failed to prove any pre-concert or common object and th

S. 302-Murder case-Mitigation of offence-No reason for prosecution witnesses to falsely implicate appellant, witnesses being closely related-Presence of witnesses on spot not liable to be questioned, witnesses having been sitting in common chowk where occurrence took place and male members of village families normally came out after evening meal for brief chit-chat-Accused also remaining absconder for a long time and could not offer any plausible reason for his absence from village-Contention that there being no motive for crime and one part put forward by prosecution having been proved false, there must be some dispute which annoyed accused appellant and he committed crime under agitated state of mind-Held : Something appears to have occurred on spur of moment resulting in occurrence under consideration-Sentence of death, in circumstances, altered to one of life imprisonment and fine.

[Murder-case]-Contention as to prosecution story being doubtful, identity of culprits being not possible at dead of night, and petitioner's companion arrested by complainant and beaten without any reason not worthy of being agreed with-Deceased possessed right to challenge intruders (petitioners and his companion) one committing lurking house trespass by night and another standing in front of door of house of complainant's neighbour thinking them to be thieves Crime committed in a very cruet manner-Petition, held, without merit and dismissed-Constitution of Pakistan (1973), Art. 185(3).

S. 302-(Murder-case)-Appreciation of evidence-No previous enmity existing between parties and thus no reason for prosecution witnesses to depose falsely against appellant for murder of deceased Prosecution case also supported by a witness neither related to deceased nor having enmity with appellant-Such witness mentioned in F. I. R. as one of witnesses of crime and although cross-examined at length yet nothing brought out to discredit his testimony-Motive mentioned in F. I. R. not appealing to reason and such alone not likely to lead to murder of deceased by accused appellant-Some evidence appearing to have been concealed by prosecution regarding incident before accused actually started giving blows to deceased-Case, held, although proved yet extreme penalty of death not called for in circumstances-Death sentence reduced to imprisonment for life and fine.

- S. 497 (51 read with Penal Code (XLV of 1860), S. 302/307/149/148 and Constitution of Pakistan (1973), Art. 185 (3)-Murder-case Bail, cancellation of-Leave to appeal-Document in respect of participation of petitioners so far as injuries to deceased concerned either ignored or misinterpreted, having material bearing on case-Discretion cannot be said to have been properly exercised with such misreading or ignoring of material present on record-Manner of investigation resulting in placing same petitioners in column 2 of challan, apparently based on oath administered to persons not witnesses in case and not authorised by parties but picked up by Investigating Officer on his own-Not satisfying Court-High Court having attended to every aspect of case carefully and in detail, case, held, not fit for leave to appeal.

S. 302-Murder case-Enhancement of sentence-No evidence of accused being a drug addict-Accused immediately after firing shots taking to his heels and trying to escape-Such conduct, held, indicative of his being sane and alive to consequences of his act at time of commission of murder-Enhancement of sentence, not interfered with in circumstances.

S. 302/34 - Murder case-Appreciation of evidence - Corroboration - Accused and his two associates (acquitted accused) alleged to have run after deceased, overtaken him, two acquitted accused having held deceased by arms and accused stabbed deceased with a sun on left of back, thereby causing his death-Deceased receiving stab wound measuring 1/6" in diameter on back of left chest going deep into body rupturing pleura and lung-Location and depth of injury of great significance in circumstances-Location of injury on back and" extent of penetration of sun-Indicative of victim having been completely overpowered enabling accused to plunge sun with full force-Fact, held, strong corroboration of deceased being pinned' down by two accused, each holding him by arms, enabling third: accused (respondent) to stab him.

S. 302-Murder case-Trial Court rejecting prosecution evidence on unsound reasoning, not giving due weight to corroborative evidence, and not referring to 15 months long unexplained abscondence of accused-Trial Court's order of acquittal, held, rightly set aside by High Court-Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898), S. 417.

Only a corroborative piece of evidence-Not by itself sufficient to sustain conviction.

Bail-Murder case-Accused moving Supreme Court by Petition for Special Leave to Appeal against order of High Court cancelling bail Pending petition accused moving a fresh application for bail before Magistrate-Bail again refused by Magistrate as well as High Court-Petition for Special Leave to Appeal filed, in circumstance, held, became infructuous-Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898), S. 497.

S. 33 and Penal Code (XLV of 1860), S. 302 - Murder case - Statement made by prosecution witness before committing Magistrate con be transferred to Sessions file under S. 33, Evidence Act only if conditions laid down in section have been strictly complied with-No evidence on record to show that any search was made to find out prosecution witness or any effort was made to procure his attendance-Mere statement by Public Prosecutor on basis of statement of another prosecution witness that "witness has gone to Karachi in search of livelihood and his whereabouts are not known"-Transfer of evidence, of absentee witness, to Sessions file in circumstances, held, not proper.

S. 134-Murder case Court can and may act on testimony of a single witness-Corroboration not always necessary.