' Sarfraz Ahmad alias Ganesh, one of appellants, allegedly, owed a sum of Rs,500 to Khurram Sarshar. In connection with its repayment an altercation and quarrel, statedly, took place between them in Dara Mast Shah on 15-5-1993, Shahid Sarshar complainant and Zafar Ahmad P.W.
Intervened and eventually, Sarfraz Ahmad alias Ganesh appellant is said to have promised to repay the debt on 17-5-1993.
2. In this background and with such motive, aforesaid, Sarfraz Ahmad alias Ganesh and his brother Imtiaz Ahmad alias Billi, in furtherance of their common intention, are, alleged, to have caused intentional murder of abovementioned, Khurram Sarshar son of Mukhtar Sarshar, by causing injuries on his person with daggers at about 9-00 p.m. On 17-5-1993 in Shahab-ud-Din Park falling within area of Police Station Nekapura, Sialkot.
3. Story of woe, as reflected by, unfolded in, and gleaned out of statement Exh.P.G., in brief, is that on 17-5-1993, fateful and eventful day, Shahid Sarshar, complainant, returned to his house from mosque after offering Isha prayers. On learning from his mother that his brother, Khurram Sarshar, had, gone alongwith Imtiaz Ahmad alias Billi appellant in connection with repayment of loan, he and his tenant namely, Sher Muhammad went out to ascertain the same. In the street they were joined by Zafar Iqbal P.W., who, accompanied them. When all of them reached Shahab-ud-Din Park, they were attracted to the cries of "Bachao, Bachao", of Khurram Sarshar. They rushed towards that place and saw that Sarfraz Ahmad alias Ganesh and his brother Imtiaz Ahmad alias Billi were causing injuries to Khurram Sarshar with daggers. On seeing them, both assailants made good their escape towards graveyard. Upon failure to apprehend them, complainant and his companions returned to the venue and found Khurram Sarshar rolling in a pool of blood. He succumbed to his injuries on the spot.
4. Complainant and his companions were still present there, when Manzoor Hussain, Sub-Inspector Police, on learning of the incident, reached there and recorded statement Exh.P.G. Of Shahid Sarshar, upon which formal F.I.R. Exh.P.G./1 was drawn. He prepared injury statement Exh.P.J. And inquest report Exh.P.K. And rough site plan Exh.P.L. Of the occurrence.
5. During investigation blood-stained earth was seized vide memo. Exh.P.H. And made into a sealed parcel. Blood-stained clothes comprising shirt P.1, Shalwar P.2 and Underwear P.3 were taken into possession by means of memo. Exh.P.B. Site plans Exh.P.A. And Exh.A./1 were got prepared and recoveries of Chhuri and dagger P.4 and P.5 were effected through Exh.P.C. And Exh.P.J. Autopsy on dead body was prepared by Dr. Fakhar Zaman.
6. On commencement of trial before learned Sessions Judge, Sialkot, appellants were charged under section 302, P.P.C. Read with section 34 of the same Code, for causing death of Khurram Sarshar, in the manner stated above. On their pleading not guilty to it, prosecution led evidence against them by producing as many as 11 witnesses. Prominent amongst them are Dr. Fakhar Zaman (P.W.6) who, conducted post-mortem examination of dead body of Khurram Sarshar. Aftab Baber (P.W.5), Pervaiz Ahmad (P.W.11) in whose presence blood-stained Chhuri P.4 and dagger P.5 were recovered vide memos. Exh.P.C. And Exh.P.J. At the instance of Sarfraz Ahmad alias Ganesh and Imtiaz Ahmad alias Billi, accused, while, in custody. Shahid Sarshar (P.W.7) and Zafar Ahmad (P.W.8) furnished ocular account of the occurrence and Muhammad Yousaf (P.W.9), A.S.-I. Partly investigated the case after sad demise of aforesaid Manzoor Hussain, Sub-Inspector.
7. When examined under section 342, Cr.P.C. Appellants denied all the incriminating circumstances figuring against them in prosecution evidence, professed innocence and alleged false implication due to suspicion.
8. On conclusion of trial, appellants were found and adjudged guilty of the offence with which they were charged and consequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment each. They were further directed to pay a sum of Rs,40,000 each to legal heirs of the deceased and in default thereof to suffer further R.I. For a term of six months.
9. Aggrieved by these findings, arrived at, by learned Sessions Judge, Sialkot vide judgment, dated 23-6-1994, the appellants have preferred this appeal against their conviction and sentence.
Likewise, feeling dissatisfied, with quantum of punishment, complainant Shahid Sarshar has prayed for enhancement of the same through Criminal Revision No,319 of 1994. This judgment shall dispose of both of them together.
10. Learned counsel for the appellants has lambasted the verdict, by pointing out that the same is rife and replete with legal and technical snags, which, unfortunately, escaped notice of learned trial Court and conversely the prosecution was allowed to reap benefit thereof. His main attack, inter alia, is upon alleged delay in reporting the matter to police, delay in post-mortem examination, absence of signatures of Medical Superintendent on inquest report and injury statement, non- production of deceased's mother, who had imparted information of his taking along by appellant Imtiaz Ahmad alias Billi to complainant and contradictions and discrepancies occurring in the prosecution evidence.
11. Conversely, learned counsel for the complainant as also learned counsel representing the State have remarked that the appellants being responsible for such a gruesome, cold blooded and brutal murder, are liable to be awarded extreme penalty.
12. Let it be clarified, at the very outset, that F.I.R. Was lodged with agility, which fell, within human competence. Occurrence had taken place between 9 to 10 p.m. And criminal law was set into motion at 10-45 p.m. Deceased was soaked in blood and the complainant in trauma due to goary incident, but even then, he nominated the appellants with their weapons. Variance about time is of little significance in wake thereof. It is not expected of grief stricken like P.W.7, brother of the deceased, to give minute details of incident or dilate upon occurrence in fool proof manner. F.I.R.
Was lodged with alacrity ruling out chances of tutoring, deliberation or consultations. No doubt F.I.R.
Is not a substantive piece of evidence, but, when made, with alternate,? Washed away prospective mist of suspicion and prosecution story embodied therein starts gleaming to enable Investigating Officer to go ahead toward positive direction, to unveil other hidden facts.
13. Motive in the present case, never, remained wrapped in mist or shrouded in mystery. It was spouted at the inception and with passage of time got fortification from the defence. In his statement under section 342, Cr.P.C. Sarfraz Ahmad alias Ganesh accused-appellant unequivocally admitted and candidly conceded that he owed a sum of Rs,500 to the deceased, but added, that he had cleared off the debt and financial liability. Altercation in this regard, only two days before incident, was also admitted in the same breath. Learned Sessions Judge rightly took notice of the fact that no evidence to substantiate claim of repayment of above loan, was adduced. Polemic between deceased and Sarfraz Ahmad alias Ganesh on 15-5-1993, certainly left the appellant with simmering fury. Pain on chin by kick may soon vanish, but blow on self-respect is unforgettable and causes anguish for ever. Number of injuries inflicted upon the person of the deceased is a speaking evidence of spate of anger. Both the appellants came well prepared and with premeditation to satisfy their ruffled dignity. Seemingly their wounded pride constrained and rather complied them to teach a lesson to the deceased. Imtiaz Ahmad alias Billi appellant equally shared the agony of his co-appellant brother Sarfraz Ahmad alias Ganesh with artifice and took him to Shahab-ud-Din Park, where, he was done away with, brutally. Mode of commission of crime as mentioned above speaks loudly about malice and boiling in the mind of appellants. It is not essential that such an incident must precede a motive. Sometime, pungent remarks and abuses do suffice to provocate and haunt a criminal mind, which, is impervious to reason. Altercation and quarrel over repayment of sum of Rs,500 gave birth to a motive for wreaking vengeance, which, is further writ large in shape of not less than 14 injuries on the person of the deceased. It is state of mind of an assailant as to which way and where he would response to motive. In these circumstances, there can be no other conclusion than that there was strong motive, which, stands established even by statement of appellant namely Sarfraz Ahmad alias Ganesh.
14. Ocular evidence too leaven not an iota or scintilla of doubt about the guilt of appellants.
Admittedly P.W.7 is real brother of the deceased while P.W.8 is his cousin. It is trite and settled law that mere relationship of eyewitnesses is not sufficient to discredit their veracity unless it is proved that they harbour grudge, animosity or pique against the accused person. There is nothing on record to ascribe any of it to P.W.7 and P.W.B. Both synchronize on every material point like weapon of offence, motive and seat of injuries etc. Their testimony is devoid and bereft of any glaring discrepancy. If some innocent contradictions have crept into, it can hardly be taken to have impaired prosecution case beyond repair. Human memory fades with passage of time, it cannot retain details with precision; retentive memory is rare phenomenon. Compactness, otherwise, looks unnatural, waivering and faultering appear on the periphery of human memory.
15. It has been argued with vehemence that P.W.7 and P.W.8 had no inkling about painful years of 1983, 1988, 1989 and 1990, which left vestiges like Exh.D.D., Exh.D.E. And Exh.D.F. On the character of deceased. This attack is without any force. Complainant P.W.7, while making statement Exh.P.C.
Made it clear that he had returned from England three years prior to the occurrence. He was not expected to know every inch of the past of his deceased brother. Moreover, registration of the case in the past five years, has nothing to do with the incident of murder and ignorance of eye- witnesses about stories of the past, would not make their depositions doubtful by any figment and stretch of imagination. There is no reason to disagree with the learned trial Court that the above lapses attributed to P.W.7 and P.W.8 would not create any dent in the prosecution case. Arguments that P.Ws. Are at variance about time of occurrence or reporting the matter to the police at 10-45 p.m. And thereby they cannot be taken to be present at the scene, particularly, when disappearance of deceased had dawned upon them at 9-00 p.m. Do not hold water. They were not expected to speak on any point with utmost clarity and precision. Both of them are rather in harmony on all material aspects of the case. Learned counsel has just tried to make mountain out of mole. As such ocular account when scanned with the help of medical evidence leaves no room for suspicion about active involvement of appellants in the commission of crime. There looks no plausible reason as to why eye-witnesses would falsely implicate the appellants and screen out real culprits. No suggestion whatsoever was put and advanced that the deceased had enmity with any other person. The documents produced by the defence and referred to earlier would show that the cases were registered against the deceased in the year 1983-89. It was story of the past. This closed chapter could not give rise to substitution especially when those cases were not registered at the behest of the appellants, whose innocence is not spelled out from any corner of ocular account, rather, it has placed the lid firmly upon their guilt. Aspersions cast upon the medical evidence especially relating to signatures upon injury statement and inquest report Exh.P.J. And Exh.P.K. Have no shimmering of genuineness. If at all these lapse occurred, same cannot be treated injurious from the prosecution point of view nor they paint any hazy picture favourable to accused.
Nature and number of injuries are of paramount importance. Injuries Nos.1, 8, 10, 11 and 13 were grievous and dangerous to life and death was caused by shock, haemorrhage and cardio respiratory failure. Autopsy was conducted on 18-5-1993 at 11-00 a.m. It was mentioned on the post-mortem report Exh.P.O. That as per police record time of death was 9-15 p.m. On 17-5-1993.
P.W.6, led that time between post-mortem and occurrence was about 14/15 hours. In the opinion of Medical Officer all injuries were caused with sharp-edged weapon. Time which lapsed between death and injuries was reportedly instantaneous. These aspects do not run counter to the ocular evidence rather lend truth to same. It is manifest that incident was not one man's show. Number of injuries commensurate with the number of accused. It further fortifies that the incident took place between 9-00 p.m. To 10 p.m. Same cement the prosecution story that accused were armed with sharp-edged weapons. In brief, medical evidence is in line with the ocular evidence. Recovery of P.5 further connects appellant Imtiaz Ahmad alias Billi with the guilt. Chhuri P.4 was found stained with human blood vide report of Chemical Examiner Exh.P.N. And that of Serologist Exh.P.N./1.
Recoveries are treated as corroborative piece of evidence. Guilt can be proved even independent of recoveries. Chhuri P.4 was recovered at the instance of Sarfraz Ahmad alias Ganesh appellant while dagger P.5 at the pointation of Imtiaz Ahmad alias Billi appellant. As P.5 was not blood- stained, hence it was not sent to Chemical Examiner and Chhuri P.4 recovered from Sarfraz Ahmad alias Ganesh was stained with blood. Investigation of this case was initially conducted by Manzoor Hussain, Sub-Inspector who, however, expired and the rest of investigation was carried out by P.W.10, Muhammad Zaman, when, no mala fide stands ascribed to any of them. In wake thereof, guilt of the appellants stands proved beyond any reasonable or shadow of doubt. Both the appellants launched criminal assault upon Khurram Sarshar with premeditation and full preparation under the sting and influence of a definite motive and common intention and inflicted not less than 14 injuries on his person. As none of eyewitnesses has specifically stated that which of the fatal injury was caused by whom; it cannot be determined with certitude that fatal and grievous injuries were caused by one or other accused-appellant. In these circumstances, both the appellants were rightly convicted under section 302(b) read with section 34, P.P.C. And each sentenced to imprisonment for life as Tazir.
16. Judgment, now sought to be impeached and set at naught, is accordingly based on sound reasonings and conclusions arrived, therein, do not appear to suffer from any lacuna. Same, accordingly, does not call for any alteration, interference and intervention.