' MUHAMMAD FARRUKH MAHMUD, J.---This judgment will dispose of Criminal Appeal No,15-J of 2003, filed by Bahadar, who faced trial in case F.I.R. No,263, registered at Police Station Saddar Chiniot, on 12-5-2000, for offences under section 302 P.P.C., before learned Additional Sessions Judge, Chiniot, who after concluding the trial, vide his judgment dated 7-11-2001 convicted the appellant under section 302(b), P.P.C., and sentenced him to Death with compensation of Rs,1,00,000 or in default six months' S.-I.
2. Murder Reference No,53 of 2002, for confirmation or otherwise of death sentence of appellant shall also be disposed of through this single judgment.
3. Brief facts of the case as mentioned in F.I.R. Exh.P.A. Recorded on the statement of Aman Ullah (P.W.1) are that the complainant was student of 9th class of Government Crescent Model High School, Faisalabad. His sister Mst. Shamim Bibi was married to Jaffa. Ali three years prior to the occurrence, who had been divorced 1-1/2 years ago. She was residing with her mother Mst. Fatima Bibi at Mouza Jasrat. The complainant received information at Faisalabad that his sister Mst.
Shamim Bibi had been injured by some unknown accused. She was admitted in Civil Hospital Chiniot. The complainant reached there and his mother Mst. Fatima Bibi told him that at 3-30 p.m.
Two unknown persons entered the courtyard and she awakened. She saw that two persons armed with daggers were present in the courtyard. One accused with average height well built and young in age inflicted two blows with dagger on the left side of neck of Mst. Shamim Bibi, while the other accused with stout body and young in age also inflicted two blows with his dagger on the person of Mst. Shamim Bibi on left side of her neck and on her little fmger of right hand. Mst. Shamim Bibi raised hue and cry, which attracted Haq Nawaz and Muhammad Akram, who reached the spot and witnessed the occurrence. The accused fled away from the spot, while waiving their daggers in the air. Mst. Shamim Bibi was shifted to Civil Hospital, Chiniot, where she succumbed to the injuries at 3-30 p.m.
4. After registration of formal F.I.R., the investigation of the case was taken over by Ashiq Hussain, S /P .W .7 . He proceeded to the Civil Hospital, Chiniot, took over the dead body, prepared injury statement Exh.P.H. And inquest report Exh.PJ. He recorded supplementary statements of Aman Ullah (complainant) and Mst. Fatima Bibi, wherein they nominated Bahadar as real culprit. On 13-5-2000 he visited the place of occurrence and secured blood-stained earth from the spot vide memo.
Exh.P.C. He also took into possession blood-stained cot P-2 and blood-stained bedding P-3 vide memos. Exh.P.D. And Exh.P.E. Respectively. On 9-6-2000 he arrested Bahadar accused. On 11-6-2000 Bahadar led to the recovery of hatchet P.1, which was taken into possession Exh.P.B. After completion of investigation, the accused was sent up to face trial.
5. At the trial, the prosecution in order to prove its case produced 9 witnesses in all. The prosecution after tendering in evidence the reports of Chemical Examiner Exh.P.M. And that of Serologist Exh.P.N.
Closed its case. The accused in his statement recorded under section 342, Cr.P.C. In reply to Question No,7 answered as under:-- ' "I belong to poor Muslim Sheikh family. Haq Nawaz P.W. Is Phuphizad of the complainant and he is big landlord of the area. I and my forefathers had been serving his family for many many years. My wages were not given by Haq Nawaz and I had been demanding the same from him. I had also made efforts in this regard through the other members of my family and area and this has annoyed Haq Nawaz P.W. The occurrence was unseen, blind and untraced offence. I had nothing to do with this offence. Haq Nawaz with the connivance of complainant and with the police has entangled me in this case by concocting a false motive to satisfy his own grudge. The police in order to save its skin from untraced murder with the connivance of Haq Nawaz and other P.Ws.
Have changed the proceedings of investigation and statements of the P.Ws. Made falsely against me. As other P.Ws. Are relatives of the complainant and Haq Nawaz was inimical against me so falsely deposed against me. Akram P.W. Has made false statement against me before the police because of friendship with the complainant party, Weapon of offence maigfidely changed to make false case against me."
' He also appeared as witness under section 340(2), Cr.P.C. In his defence as D.W.l and reiterated the version taken in his statement under section 342, Cr.P.C. After conclusion of trial, the learned trial Court convicted and sentenced the appellant as stated above.
6. After having read the entire prosecution evidence, statements of the appellant recorded under sections 342 and 340(2), Cr.P.C. And other relevant material available on record, the learned counsel for the appellant in support of this appeal has contended that it was a night occurrence; that F.I.R. Was lodged on the statement of real brother of the deceased; that in the F.I.R. Two unknown assailants were mentioned while subsequently dishonest improvement was made at the instance of Haq Nawaz P.W< who owed wages to the appellant; that Haq Nawaz could not possibly be a witness in this case, as he was resident of far a place; that Mst. Fatima Bibi has only obliged Haq Nawaz P.W.; that statement of Haq Nawaz was recorded on 13th, a day after the occurrence; that supplementary statement of the complainant could not be equated with the statement, given in the F.I.R. As it is common knowledge that the sole purpose of supplementary statement is to fill the lacunas in the prosecution case or to implicate innocent persons later on and relies upon 2003 SCM R 1419; that the prosecution case is not free from dpubt; that the Investigating Officer admitted that when he visited the scene of occurrence he did not find any source of light; and that the defence plea taken by the appellant is supported by the oral evidence as well as circumstances of the case.
7. Mirza Abdullah Baig, Advocate, appearing on behalf of the State (on Court's call) submits that Mst. Fatima Bibi was a natural witness, whose presence at4he spot cctuld not be denied; that statement of Mst. Fatima Bibi is supported by the medical evidence and corroborated by the recovery of hatchet; that the minor discrepancies in the statements of P.Ws. Were of no consequences, as such-like contradictions naturally appear when evidence is recorded after some time; that Haq Nawaz has supported the statement of Mst. Fatima Bibi on all the material particulars of the case; that Mst. Fatima Bibi had no previous enmity or ill-will whatsoever to depose falsely against the appellant. He supports the prosecution case.
8. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties at length and gone through the entire evidence minutely. The occurrence took place during night at 3-30 a.m. Inside the house of Mst.
Fatima P.W.3. After occurrence Aman Ullah- complainant, who resided at Faisalabad, was informed; He reached the hospital, met her mother Mst. Fatima Bibi and after death of Mst. Shamim Bibi at 3-30 p.m. Reported the matter to Ashiq Hussain, S.-I./P.W.7 at Tehsil Chowk at 4-00 p.m.
Aman Ullah was not an eye-witness and J was made complainant of the case for the reason that he was brother of the deceased. According to F.I.R., after death Of Mst. Shamim Bibi, the complainant left Zafar Abbas and Muhammad Rafiq with the dead body in the hospital and he left for reporting the matter to the police. Undeniably before reporting the matter to the police he spent some time in the hospital and met with his mother Mst, Fatima Bibi. As per F.I.R. On the fateful night two persons trespassed into the house of Mst. Fatima Bibi after scaling over the wall. Both of them were armed with daggers, one of them was slim and average height while the other was of stout body. Each of them caused two injuries on the person of Mst. Shamim Bibi. The injuries caused by the accused, who was slim, landed on the loft side of the neck while injuries caused by the other accused were on the neck and little finger of the right hand of the deceased. It was also stated in F.I.R. That two assailants, who were not previously known to the P.Ws. Could be identified by them.
During trial Aman Ullah P.W.l made dishonest improvement by stating that he had received information at Faisalabad that his sister Mst. Shamim Bibi was injured by some unknown persons, who had entered into the house; and that his sister had been taken to THQ Hospital, Chiniot: He further stated that he rushed to the hospital where his mother Mst. Fatima Bibi and other relatives were present, who told him that Mst. Shamim Bibi had expired few minutes ago. Thereafter he straightaway left for reporting the matter to the police. The witness wanted us to believe that his mother and other relatives did not tell him the real story and he without having any information from the eyewitnesses left for police on the basis of information he had received on telephone, During cross-examination he stated that he had met his mother but he did not talk with his mother or Muhammad Akram P.W. It is totally unbelievable. After expiry of Mst. Shamim Bibi there was no need for the complainant to leave the hospital immediately for reporting the matter to the police. It is not believable that he would not inquire about the facts of the case from his real mother and Muhammad Akram P.W., who were present in the hospital. It is also not believable that the complainant would narrate the story of death of his real sister in a casual manner on the basis of incomplete information furnished to him through telephone. The F.I.R. Contains the details of the occurrence including description of the assailants and the weapons used by them. Even seats of injuries have been mentioned in the F.I.R. All this could not be the result of telephone call. It is more obvious that after narrating the true facts to the police the complainant party changed its mind and implicated the appellant in this case. Muhammad Akram P.W. Was hot produced. However, Haq Nawaz appeared as P.W.2. Undeniably he lived at a distance of one kilometer from the house of Mst. Fatima Bibi. It was virtually impossible for him to reach the spot while the accused were present there, as the occurrence ended within 4/5 minutes. His statement was recorded on the next day of the occurrence and there was no explanation as to why his statement was not recorded on the day when the case was registered. His behaviour after the occurrence was also strange as according to him he did not accompany Mst. Shamim Bibi, while she was injured, to the hospital rather he left for his house. He is related to the complainant and the deceased. He would not leave the ladies on their own and in normal circumstances if he had present there, he would have accompanied the deceased and Mst. Fatima Bibi to the hospital. He has admitted that Bahadar- appellant has been serving his family since long and he used to pay him 32 mound of wheat per year along with food and clothes. In other words no regular wages were paid to the appellant by him. He also admitted that he owned 5/6 squares of land, which indicates that he was a man of means having influence. It was suggested to him that dispute existed over payment of wages between him and the appellant and for that reason he got implicated the appellant in this case, however, he denied the suggestion; As far as Mst. Fatima Bibi is concerned, she has simply followed the instructions of Haq Nawaz P.W. As already noted above, it does not appeal to reason that the complainant, who is son of Mst. Fatima Bibi, reported the matter on his own without consulting or obtaining information from Mst. Fatima Bibi.
9. The learned counsel for the appellant had laid much stress on the statement of the complainant recorded by the Investigating Officer after registration of case. However, supplementary statement cannot be equated with the F.I.R. Only it can be read as part of the F.I.R. Reliance is placed on the judgment passed by the apex Court in the case of Khalid Javed and another v. The State (2003 SCM R 1419). It is common knowledge that the supplementary statements are recorded either in order to fill the lacunas in the prosecution case or to add the number of the accused. It may be noted here that the matter was reported to Ashiq Hussain, S.-I./P.W.7 while he was accidentally present at Tehsil Chowk at 4-00 pm. After more than 12 hours of the occurrence. No plausible explanation is available on record as to why any of the witnesses did not report the matter to the police or as to why the Doctor did not inform the concerned polite officer. This inordinate delay in reporting the matter itself denotes that the assailants were not known.
10. According to medical evidence, the deceased received four incised wounds on her body, which were caused by sharp- edged weapon. However, the wounds were not described as "Penetrated" and perhaps for that reason the weapon of offence was changed from dagger to hatchet.
11. During trial the prosecution tried to set motive behind the occurrence by stating that 2/3 days prior to the occurrence Mst. Shamim Bibi-deceased quarrelled with sister of the appellant Mst. Faiz Bibi, who narrated, the incident to the appellant who felt aggrieved. The statement itself shows that quarrel did not take place in the - presence of the appellant. The nature of quarrel and what was behind the quarrel has not been stated. If some serious quarrel had taken place between Mst.
Shamim Bibi and Mst. Faiz Bibi then the appellant would not wait for 2/3 days to take revenge. No independent witness has been produced to prove the motive. Hence the motive appears to be an afterthought.
12. The appellant was arrested on 9-6-2000, who allegedly led to the recovery of hatchet on 11-6- 2000. The evidence of recovery would be, of no consequence as firstly the appellant would not keep the hatchet with him intact for about a month and secondly hatchet was not stained with blood at the time of recovery.
13. The defence plea that it was an unwitnessed occurrence by unknown assailants and that the appellant was roped in this case due to existing grudge between him and Haq Nawaz over demand of wages seems to be plausible, which is supported by the factum of admission of the Investigating Officer in his first Zimni date 12-5-2000 wherein he had mentioned that there was no arrangement of light at the place of occurrence. It is further supported by the admission of Haq Nawaz that the appellant had been serving his family since long; for wheat and clothes. It is implied admission that no regular wages were paid to the appellant. The appellant also appeared as witness in his defence. His statement is worthy of credence.
14. In the above noted circumstances, in our considered opinion, the prosecution case is not free from doubt. Resultantly, we allow this appeal, set aside the impugned j judgment and acquit the appellant of all the charges. He would be released from Jail forthwith if not required in any other case.
15. Consequently, Murder Reference is answered in the negative. Death sentence is not confirmed.