1. SAJJAD AHMAD, J.-This is an appeal, by special leave, by Rajoo, who has been sentenced to death for causing the murder of his cousin, Mst. Maqboolan. He was also convicted under section 323, P. P.
2. C. For causing simple hurt to Mst. Zainab, and sentenced to six months' R. I. He was further convicted under section 452, P. P. C. For committing trespass in the latter's house, having made preparation for causing hurt to her, and sentenced to 4 years' R. I. On that count, and to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000, or, in default, to undergo further imprisonment for li years. On appeal and reference, the learned Judges of a Division Bench of the former High Court of West Pakistan (Lahore) have upheld the appellant's conviction under section 302 for the murder of Mst. Maqboolan, and have confirmed his sentence of death. They have also maintained his conviction under sections 451 and 323, P. P. C. But have reduced the sentence under section 452, P. P. C, from 4 years to 2 years, and have also remitted the sentence of fine of Rs. 5,000, awarded on that count.
3. According to the prosecution case, the appellant had wanted the hand of Mst. Maqboolan in marriage, which was turned down by her father, Nazra. Ha then asked for the hand of Mst. Zainab, P.
4. W. a niece of Nazra, which was also rejected. This had exasperated the appellant to put an end to the life of Mst. Maqboolan, and to cause harm to Mst. Zainab.
5. On the 15th of February 1967, at about kachi degarwela, the deceased, Mst. Maqboolan, and her mother, Mst. Aisha Bibi, were present at the well, known as Chah Bhar Da, when the appellant came there, armed with a hatchet. He started giving hatchet blows to Mst. Maqboolan, and killed her on the spot. Mst. Aisha Bibi raised an alarm, which attracted P. Ws. Mansha and Sultan, lambardar, to the spot. After injuring the deceased, the appellant repaired to the house of Mst. Zainab, some distance away. Mansha and Sultan, mentioned above, chased him close on his heels. He succeeded in giving one hatchet blow to Mst. Zainab, after which Mansha and Sultan were able to apprehend him, along with his hatchet. Mst. Aisha Bibi immediately left for Mangtanwala Police Station at a distance of 4 miles from the scene of occurrence, and lodged her report there at 5 p.m.
6. The post-- mortem examination on the dead body of Mst. Maqboolan revealed that she had sustained 4 incised injuries. Injury No. 1 was given on the back of the right side of neck, cutting the muscles and spinal column and the spinal cord, which by itself was a fatal injury. Mst. Zainab had a swollen bruise on the right side of her back 2--" x 1--", and another bruise on the left side of the back 3" from the medial line. At the trial, Mst. Aisha Bibi, P. W. 2, and Sultan, P. W. 7 gave direct evidence. Mst. Zainab, P. W. 8, Mansha, P. W. 5, and Hussain, P. W. 10, did not support the prosecution case. Being close relations of the appellant, their sympathies in course of time were diverted to save him. It may be noted that the appellant is the nephew of Nazra, the father of Mst. Maqboolan.
7. Mst. Zainab .Is the daughter of another uncle of the appellant, named Bashir, who had died 10 years ago. However, the statements of these witnesses, which had been recorded by the Committing Magistrate, in which they had fully implicated the appellant, were transferred to the Sessions record under section 288 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Mst. Aisha Bibi also made certain admissions in her cross-examination in favour of the appellant, which made her statement doubtful. For instance, she stated that the appellant was covering himself with a blanket and wearing a khaki cap. It may be stated that Mst. Aisha Bibi's statement connects the appellant with the offence of committing the murder of Mst. Maqboolan in spite of her efforts to dilute her statement to favour the appellant. Mansha has similarly tried to go back on his Committing Court statement to, throw cloud of doubt on the prosecution case. In his Committing Court statement, he had directly and unequivocally charged the appellant for the murder of Mst. Maqboolan. The learned Judges in the High Court have summed up the situation, as created by the attitude of the prosecution witnesses in para. 10 of their judgment as follows : --- "The witnesses appear to have resiled from their statements in order to save the appellant from the consequences of his act, as he is closely related to them. The trial Judge, therefore, very correctly decided to rely on the evidence of Mansha and Mst. Zainab. Hussain, who was attracted to the spot from Nawan Khoo, on hearing of the occurrence, and had seen the appellant running towards the village, also resiled from his earlier statement, which he made before the Committing Magistrate and transferred under section 288, Cr. P. C. Even if we eliminate the evidence of Hussain, still we are left with the statements of Mansha and Mst. Zainab, whom we have no reasons to disbelieve. The occurrence having taken place in broad daylight, it cannot be held that nobody saw it."
8. There was some circumstantial evidence in the case also. Blood--stained hatchet and blood- stained clothes of the appellant were recovered, as proved from the testimony of P. Ws. Sultan, lambar--dar, Mansha and the Investigating Officer. The blood on the hatchet had disintegrated and its origin could not be determined, but the clothes of the appellant were found by the Serologist to be stained with human blood. There was no explanation from the appellant as to how his clothes were smeared with human blood. The motive attributed to the appellant by the prosecution is also sufficiently established from the record.
9. We have been taken through the evidence in this case, and we feel that the Committing Court statements of the ocular witnesses, which were duly transferred to the Sessions record under section 288 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were true and rightly accepted both by the trial Judge and the High Court, in preference to the statements made by them at the trial with the deliberate object of shielding the appellant from the consequences of his act. The Committing Court statements of the witnesses thus transferred were good evidence for basing the appellant's con--viction on the same, and they found substantial corroboration from the fact that the clothes recovered from the appellant, were found to be stained with human blood. There is the additional corroborative evidence of motive in this case, which gains signifi--cance by the reason that the appellant had first killed Mst. Maqboolan, and then assaulted Mst. Zainab, each of whom he had wanted to marry, but his hopes had been foiled. The assault on Mst. Zainab, having been made in quick succession after the fatal assault on Mst. Maqboolan, leaves no room for doubt that in a mood of desperation, the appellant wrought his revenge on both of them, as they had rejected his covetous desire to marry him.
10. We consider that the conviction of the appellant, as maintained by the Courts below, does not call for any interference by this Court. The appeal is dismissed.