Indicted for homicide, petitioner's son, Khizar Hayat was tried by a learned Addl. Sessions Judge at Lahore; he was returned a guilty verdict vide judgment dated 2-4-2003; convicted under clause (a) of section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860, he was sentenced to death; his appeal met with no better fate before a learned Division Bench; Murder Reference No.467 of 2003 was answered in affirmative; Crl. Appeal No.590 of 2009 filed by the convict before the Supreme Court of Pakistan was dismissed on 23-9-2010; penalty of death was maintained, albeit under clause (b) of the section ibid; his last ditch effort failed to bear fruit when review petition faced dismissal on 20-6-2011. Refusal of clemency by the President foreclosed all temporal avenues. Consequent upon his failures, a black warrant for his execution was finally issued, vires whereof, were challenged through W.P. No.18275 of 2015, dismissed on 18-6-2015. Once again, on a motion resting upon convict's stated mental incapacity/trauma, the execution was suspended by the learned Sessions Judge Lahore; the convict was interviewed/examined by a Medical Board comprising of six members; for the convenience of reference, opinion of the board is reproduced below:- "On examination he is communicative, most of his answers to the questions are relevant but gets irrelevant in between. He also exhibited his delusional thoughts during his conversation. However his orientation about time place and person was intact. He has insight into his offence, its repercussions and his judgment is not presently impaired. He has been taking antipsychotic medicines in Jail Hospital. The Board is of the unanimous opinion that he is found to be suffering from psychosis (most probably Schizophrenia). When the questions about "WILL" are asked from him, he is able to comprehend the questions and answers appropriately at present."
Opinion of the Board was pressed into service to highlight "psychosis " as a factor to ward off execution of death penalty , however , criminal miscellaneous petition moved on convict' s behalf was finally dismissed on 24-10-2016 and it is in this backdrop that petitioner in her second approach to this Court seeks abeyance of her son's execution till his return to normalcy .
2. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that various medical examinations conducted by most accomplished psychiatrist unambiguously confirm convict' s suffering from psychosis and as such his execution would not only be a dehumanizing act but also violation of Pakistan Prisons Rules 1978; she argued that convict' s incarceration since the year 2001 has inflicted grievously incisive trauma, irreversible in nature and, thus, given the magnitude of ordeal already suffered, the impugned execution would be most inexpedient in circumstances. The learned Law Officer has contested the plea on the ground that all the tribunals unanimously held the convict guilty of a most heinous crime and thus he cannot escape the consequence of his crime by pleading psychological implications concomitant thereof.
3. Heard. Record perused.
4. Chequered history of the case spreading over almost two decades, by itself does not mitigate the enormity of convict' s guilt; he is awarded a legal sentence, execution whereof, has been delayed by motions on his behalf and, thus, cannot be viewed as a circumstance converging on his side.
It is certainly not for this Court to adjudicate upon polemical divide on different sentencing doctrines or morality of death penalty , widely practiced in many judicial systems, however , petitioner 's plea can be gone into without undertaking any academic discussion or exercise. Amongst the corporal sentence s, penalty of death has its own unique punitive impact upon its recipient; unlike incarceration it terminates immed iately upon its execution; death being the ultimate instrument of fear, impending consequences are ante-mort em in nature; not only for the condemned prisoner but upon its surroundings as well; these are viewed retributive as well as deterrent, described as 'Death Row Phenomena '. Knowledge of befalling death inexorably ignites mental/emotional trauma; it is a journey into the unknown with obsessions shuttling between hope and despair; tales of chivalry notwithstanding, a person bracing the gallows cannot remain oblivious to the uncertainty lurking behind his encounter with fate. This most agonizing experience would inevitably take its toll even on the most strong nerves and, thus, psychosis is an obvious outcome; the longer the period the more profound it is; this most debilitating consequence is the very genesis of death penalty and cannot be cured without abolishing the penalty itself and, thus, cannot be pleaded as a ground for suspension of black warrant till return of normalcy , never to come about during life time of the convict.
The issue came under consideration in the case of Safia Bano Vs. Home Department, Government of Punjab and others (PLD 2017 Supreme Court 18) wherein emotional disorders of like nature were not viewed as factors sufficient to impede execution. Even otherwise, once a case is finally decided by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, it would be far less than expedient for the High Court to reopen the issue so as to take a different view on any ground whatsoever . W.P. No.33857 of 2016 fails. Petition dismissed . Copy of this order be transmitted to the learned Sessions Judge Lahore.