1. ANWARUL HAQ, J.--This petition for special leave/to appeal seeks to call in question the acquittal by the High Court of the six respondents herein of charges falling under sections 148, 302 and 307 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with section 149 thereof. The respondents had been convicted on these counts by the learned Additional Sessions Judge No. 2 at Multan and sentenced to undergo various terms of imprisonment. The complainant bad also filed a revision petition for enhancement of the sentences awarded to the respondents. By the order under challenge the appeal filed by the convicts was accepted, whereas the revision petition filed by the complainant was rejected.
2. The incident resulting in the death of Muhammad Shah deceased and injuries to four prosecution witnesses namely Allah Ditta (P. W. 12), Ashiq (P. W. 13), Sadiq (P. W. 14) and Fida Hussain (P. W. 15), occurred on the 11th of July 19677, at 10-35 a.m. At Chall Bagllichiwala, in village Tarf Ravi, in the jurisdiction of Police Station Sadar, Multan. The matter was reported without delay at 11-50 a.m. By Allah Ditta at the police station which is at a distance of only two miles from the place of occurrence.
3. The dispute between the parties related to the possession of certain fields belonging to one Kazim A.I Shah, which had been previously leased out to Muhammad Bakhsh and Elahi Baklish, nephews of Yar Muhammad (respondent No. 6). The prosecu--petition alleged that on the expiry of this lease, possession was taken from these two persons and delivered to the complainant party as the new lessees on the 16th of June 1967. On the date of the occurrence, prosecution witnesses Allah Ditta, Ashiq and Sadiq had climbed up the date trees in Khasra No. 1094 for the purpose of covering the fruit, and the deceased Muhammad Shafi as well as the witness Fida Hussain were standing on the ground and gathering the pieces of wood which were being thrown by the persons who had climbed the trees. While the witnesses were thus engaged, the six respondents turned up at the spot. Karim Bakhsh threatened the witnesses by saying that if they climbed the trees again they would be murdered. This led to an alterca--petition between the parties, followed by an assault by the respondents. It is alleged that the attack was opened by the respondent, Karim Bakhsh, by inflicting a knife blow on the abdomen of Ashiq. Respondent Ramzan gave a knife blow to P. W.
4. Sadiq, and then a knife blow to the deceased Muhammad Shafi. The respondent Rahim Bakhsh gave him lathi blows. Respondent Karim Bakhsh gave a knife blow to Fida Hussain and then respondents Noor Muhammad, Muhammad Hussain and Rahim Bakhsh attacked the first informant, Allah Ditta, with lathis. When the respondents Ramzan and Karim Bakhsh advanced forward to make a knife attack on Allah Ditta, he warded off the blows with his sickle and in doing so caused certain injuries to Ramzan and Karim Bakhsh.
5. The injured persons were taken to Nishtar Hospital, Multan, for treatment where Muhammad Shafi expired on the 13th of July 1967.
6. The respondents pleaded not guilty at the trial. Two of them namely Ramzan and Karim Bakhsh admitted the incident and gave an alternative version to the effect that they were the lessees of field No. 1097 which adjoins field No. 1094, and that on the day of occurrence they were passing by the field when they saw the members of the complainant party, including the deceased taking away the fruit from the date trees which had been sold to them by the owner. The two respondents objected, and in return they were assaulted by the complainant party.
7. The learned Single Judge in the High Court has taken the view that in the first place it is not clear as to where exactly the incident took place, as it was admitted by the investigating Officer that blood was found in Khasra Nos. 1093, 1094 and 1097. He then took note of the fact that the injuries sustained by the respondents Ramzan and Karim Bakhsh were too numerous and serious to have been caused by a single person namely Allah Ditta wielding only a sickle in self-defence. Ramzan was found to have sustained five blunt weapon injuries and Karim Bakhsh nine incised injuries three of which were grievous. The learned Judge rejected the explanation offered by the prosecution that the blunt weapon injuries found on Ramzan had been caused by the wood handle of the sickle, and that the incised injuries found on Karim Bakhsh were caused by two different sides of the blade of the sickle. It appeared to the learned Judge that the injuries on these two respondents had been caused by at least three different kinds of weapons. Considering all these facts the learned Judge in the High Court came to the conclusion that the defence version was probable, and therefore, the accused persons were entitled to the benefit of doubt.
8. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the conclusions reached by the High Court are the result of misreading of evidence, particularly, on the question of the loca--petition of the date trees which were the subject-matter of the dispute between the parties. It is next submitted that if indeed the Com--plainant party were the aggressors, it is unthinkable that four of the prosecution' witnesses should have received serious injuries and one of their companions should have been killed by two unarmed persons namely Ramzan and Karim Bakhsh who bad simply happened to pass by the disputed field and noticed the activities of the complainant party with regard to the gathering of fruit from the date trees. Finally, it is contended that in any case the right of defence, of property or of body, which might have accrued to the respondents could not extend to the causing of death.
9. We have gone through the evidence brought on the record and are of the view that this is not a case in which it can be said that the conclusions of the High Court are a result of misreading of evidence. The Investigating Officer clearly stated that he had taken blood-stained earth from three khasra numbers, and there was no explanation as to how blood had come to be present in three fields, as the prosecution was all along asserting that the dispute had taken place in Khasra No. 1094 only. The explana--petition given by witness Allah Ditta regarding the injuries sustained by the respondents Ramzan and Karim Bakhsh was rightly rejected, as one person merely wielding a sickle in self-defence could not have caused the injuries sustained by these two respon--dents. In the circumstances, the view could be taken that the incident probably originated in the manner alleged by the defence, although the number of persons taking part from the side of the respondents might well be more than that asserted by Ramzan and Karim Bakhsh. Such being the case this Court cannot interfere with a finding of acquittal which is sustainable on the record and can neither be described as perverse nor as one resulting in a grave miscarriage of justice. The petition is, therefore, dismissed.