By this Judgment this Criminal Appeal No,949 of 2000 is being disposed of which has emerged from the judgment passed by Mr. Muhammad Aslam Bhatti, learned Additional Sessions Judge, Chunian, District Kasur, dated 24-6-2000 whereby Muhammad Akbar appellant was convicted and sentenced as under:- "Under section 302(b), P.P.C. to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay an amount of Rs,20,000 to the legal heirs of the deceased under section 544-A, Cr.P.C. in default thereof he had to suffer further simple imprisonment for six months. However, benefit of section 382-B, C r. P. C . was extended " .
2. Some relevant facts of the prosecution case are that at about 8-30 p.m. on 13-6-1999 Muhammad Jameel complainant, his father Nazir Ahmad, Amanat Ali son of Bashir Ahmad, Mir Alam, brother of Amjad aged 17/19 years were taking meal while sitting in the courtyard. On knocking of the door Muhammad Jameel came out and saw that Muhammad Akbar and Muhammad Ahmad sons of Bashir Ahmad caste Ansari, residents of the same village i,e, Chack No,18 were present at the door who said to have some work with Amjad and on this pretext they carried Amjad alongwith them. Amjad did not come back to house till night when he was searched in the morning, Muhammad Sadiq son of Wali Muhammad caste Tarkhan, Chakki wala Muhammad Siddique son of Barkat Ali, Mason by profession of the said village, told that at about 9-00 p.m. Amjad, Muhammad Ahmad and Muhammad Akbar met them near a Saw Machine of Muhammad Tufail who were . going towards the canal and at the moment Muhammad Ahmad was armed with hatchet while Muhammad Akbar had a Toka with him and when they were inquired as to why they are going towards that side at night they told that they are going to fetch wood from the forest and when at about 8-00 a.m. on 14-6-1999 Muhammad Sadiq and Muhammad Siddique and other respectables of the locality enquired about Amjad from Muhammad Ahmad and Muhammad Akbar after making different statements told that on the last night at about 9-30 p.m. they committed the Qatl-i-Amd of Amjad in the sugercane field owned by Rajab Ali Shah being cultivated by Maqbool Ahmad with hatchet and Toka and threw the deadbody in the field of fodder (Chari) and when Muhammad Sadiq and Muhammad Siddique, etc. went in the said field they found the deadbody of Amjad lying there while prostrate condition the same was smeared with blood. They found injuries on left side of forehead caused by hatchet and Toka on the backside. The motive behind the occurrence was that Muhammad Ahmad and Muhammad Akbar suspected that their sister Ramzan Bibi had developed illicit relations with Amjad deceased so because of this grudge in furtherance of their common intention, Muhammad Ahmad armed with a hatchet and Muhammad Akbar armed with a Toka committed the Qatl-i- Amd of Amjad. F.I.R. Exh.P.E at Police Station Chhanga Manga at about 9-40 a.m. on 14-6-1999 by Muhammad Hayat S.I./S.H.O. of the said police station was registered.
3. After completion of necessary aspects of the investigation, challan was submitted in the Court for trial of the appellant and his brother.
4. After framing of the charge when the appellant and his co-accused pleaded not guilty the prosecution produced 11 witnesses to establish its case. P.W.6 Muhammad Jameel repeated almost the contents of the F.I.R. Exh.P.E reflecting on the evidence of last seen and admission of Qatl-i-Amd made by both the accused; recovery of the deadbody from the field of Charri crop; and that of recording of the. F.I.R.; P.W.2 Muhammad Siddique a witness named in the F.I.R. also stated about seeing of the deceased in the company of the accused persons lastly on the night of the occurrence, confession made by the accused persons; recovery of deadbody from the place where the deadbody was lying, noted the injuries on the deadbody of the deceased and also about the motive when the accused told that they killed the deceased as they suspected the illicit liaison between the accused's sister and the deceased, P.W.1 Muhammad Siddique also made statement in line with P.W.2 Muhammad Sadiq; Nazir Ahmad P.W.4 also deposed on the point of last seen recovery of the deadbody at the instance of the accused persons and that motive that the accused suspected the illicit intimacy in between their sister and the deceased. Arshad Ali P.W.5 stated about the recovery of Toka P.1 and clothes of Akbar accused, attesting of recovery memo. Exh.P.0 in this regard, recovery of hatchet P.4 clothes of Muhammad Ahmad accused and about taking into possession of the same vide memo. Exh.P.D and attesting of the said memos.
Muhammad Ajmal, Patwari (P.W.7) stated abdut the drafting of the site plan Exh.P.F. P.W.8 Muhammad Sharif, F.C. stated about producing the last worn clothes , of the deceased after post- mortem examination before the Investigating Officer. Muhammad Alam, FC (P.W.10) stated about deposit of five sealed parcels in the office of Chemical Examiner, Muhammad Ramzan P.W.3 stated about the collection of the blood-stained earth while P.W.11 Muhammad Hayat S.I. stated about the conduct of the investigation into this case and submission of the challan in the Court for trial of the accused.
5. Dr. Shaukat Ali P.W.9 stated about the conduct of post-mortem examination and finding of nine injuries on the deadbody of the deceased out of which Injuries. Nos,1, 2 and 3 were caused by sharp-edged weapon and other by blunt-edged weapon and in accordance with his opinion.
Injury No,1 was the immediate cause of death. Meaning thereby the case of the prosecution was based upon circumstantial evidence like the last seen, extra-judicial confession, motive, recoveries of the crime weapons and that the medical evidence.
6. At the close of prosecution case the statements of the accused persons were recorded under section 342, Cr.P.C. and when Akbar accused was questioned that as to why this case was made against you, he submitted his reply as under:- "A false case has been registered against me. I and my co-accused have not murdered the deceased. Amjad was murdered by Sadiq, Siddique P.Ws. and Muhammad Yousaf brother of Muhammad Sadiq and Muhammad Siddique P.Ws. I and my co-accused had not summoned Amjad deceased from his house and the P.Ws. mentioned in the F.I.R. are not genuine witnesses.
They have deposed against us on account of close relationship inter se. Muhammad Jamil complainant is not residing in the village and he was summoned after the murder of deceased to the village from his place of duty i,e, Racco Factory situated in Manga Mandi to become a complainant. Muhammad Sadiq and Siddique P.Ws. had not met me and my co-accused, on the night of 13-6-1999. We were not summoned at the hotel of Pehalwan on 14-6- 1999. We were not interrogated by the P.Ws. about the murder of Amjad deceased, we did not make any confession before the P.Ws. We also did not point out the deadbody of Amjad 'deceased nor we took the P.Ws. to the place, where the deadbody was lying. The father of Amjad deceased got made an announcement in the loudspeaker, through Maulvi Abdur Rehman, the Pesh Imam of the mosque, that Amjad was missing and that who so-ever, had information about him he may pass on the same to the father of the deceased. Meanwhile, Mst. Nawab Bibi wife of Khushi Muhammad went to ease herself in the field of Chari where she saw the deadbody of Amjad and she told to Maulvi Abdur Rehman about this who made announcement in the loudspeaker after half an hour again.
The father of the deceased was contacted by a number of persons of the village who informed him that they were apprised by Nawab Bibi that the deadbody was lying in the Chari field. The relatives of the deceased were led to the Chari crop and they brought the deadbody to the house. The deadbody was lying in the house of the father of the deceased when the police arrived. The statements of witnesses were not recorded by the police in the village and the F.I.R. too had not been lodged by them. Younis and Ramzan, the brothers of Muhammad Sadiq P.W. and Gongi Masih were arrested by the police on suspicion. Whereas Muhammad Sadiq and Siddique P.Ws. and their brother Muhammad Younas were wanted by the police in this case, who disappeared from the village. Sadiq and Siddique and Muhammad Yousaf were let off by the police through a bargain conducted by Khalid Mehmood Head Constable of the same village on payment of Rs,1,00,000 to the father of the deceased. They also promised to bear the expenses of post-mortem and the expenses of the case. Sadiq and Siddique became false witnesses against us under an agreement brought with efforts of Khalid Mahmood. The post-mortem was delayed as the F.I.R. had been deferred by the police to strike the bargain with the relatives of the deceased and Sadiq and Siddique and Muhammad Yousaf. And for this reason the post-mortem was conducted on the following morning after the settlement had been reached between Sadiq, Siddique and Yousaf, with the complainant. I and my co-accused had not made any confession before the police, also.
The blood-stained weapons of offence and blood-stained clothes of ourselves were not recovered from us, but were planted by the father of the deceased. The recover I witnesses are not resident of Chak. We had produced defence witnesses during investigation, but their statements were not recorded by the Investigating Officer. The sister of Muhammad Sadiq P.W. namely Munawar Bibi had illicit intimacy with the deceased and Muhammad Sadiq, Muhammad Siddique and Yousaf had murdered him to avenge the insult."
While Muhammad Ahmad co-accused adopted the plea advanced by Muhammad Akbar appellant, meaning thereby the defence plea of substitution on the basis of this motive that actually the deceased had developed illicit relations with sister of Muhammad Sadiq and Muhammad Siddique P.Ws. named Munawar Bibi was advanced but they did not produce evidence in their defence nor they got their statements under section 340 (2), Cr.P.C. recorded.
7. At the close of trial the learned Judge found that the prosecution has proved its case only to the extent of Muhammad Akbar appellant while Muhammad Ahmad co-accused was acquitted in this case by giving him the benefit of doubt.
8. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the relevant record placed before me.
9. The learned counsel for the appellant mainly argued that Muhammad Akbar appellant is a minor as he is aged about 16 years, therefore, under the law the sentence awarded to him cannot exceed 14 years and being so the learned trial Court has done miscarriage of justice and that the sentence awarded to the appellant is harsh, therefore, the Judgment passed by the learned trial Court is liable to be set aside which have been opposed by the learned State Counsel who stated that the case of the prosecution was fully established against the appellant, therefore, the conviction and sentence was rightly passed.
10.The facts on the record would reveal that the prosecution case was based upon the last seen evidence consisting of the statements of relatives and others, confessional statement made by Akbar Appellant; medical evidence, recovery of crime weapon and that of the deadbody at the instance of the appellant and his co-accused. It appears that the F.I.R. was promptly lodged in this case and that there was no sound reason to falsely implicate the appellant and the co-accused, therefore, the plea of substitution advanced by Akbar appellant and followed by his co-accused Muhammad Ahmad was baseless. So far the acquittal of the co-accused is concerned it is based upon different convincing reasons and although the prosecution brought on record the evidence circumstantial in nature yet it is so linked like a chain that one is forced to believe that the prosecution has established its case beyond reasonable doubt against the present appellant.
11. The point for examination is as to what was the motive behind the occurrence. The prosecution itself believed that the Qatl-i-Amd of Amjad was committed because the accused persons suspected that their sister Ramzan Bibi had developed illicit relations with the deceased. Meaning thereby, whatsoever, happened, it was due to the question of Ghairat. One may say that there was mere suspicion about the illicit relations, therefore, the deceased could not be murdered but at the same moment one must believe that the suspicion arises when there is something in the bottom, otherwise there can be no rumour in the village life that daughter of so and so has developed illicit relations with such and such person and when this happens even on basis of suspicion any incident may take place on the question of Ghairat because even a suspicion is always based upon some sound reasons, otherwise a person would be made who would commit Qatl-i-Amd of other in the locality. Even otherwise the learned trial Court while awarding the sentence to Muhammad Akbar appellant observed that this fact cannot be ignored that Muhammad. Akbar appellant committed the murder being enraged upon the illicit relations of his sister with the deceased. So there appears to be a tinge of Ghairat and on basis of this fact observed that there is a mitigating circumstance to take a lenient view but while taking lenient view the learned trial Court did not consider that Muhammad Akbar appellant was also hardly aged about 16/17 years as it reflects from the evidence on the record. In my opinion if the question of Ghairat was taken into consideration then youth age of the appellant should have also been taken into consideration so that the career of Muhammad Akbar appellant could be saved.
12. In view of discussion above, the conviction and sentence to undergo life imprisonment is converted into five years R.I. but the amount of fine of Rs,20,000 to be paid as compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased under section 544-A, Cr.P.C. and in default in the payment of fine the appellant has to undergo simple imprisonment for six months and concession of section 382-B, Cr.P.C. are maintained. Appeal is disposed of accordingly revisions by the competent authorities. Therefore, it is advisable to consult the official sources or legal professionals for the most up-to-date and accurate information.