' This judgment will dispose of Criminal Appeal No,1825 of 2001 and Criminal Revision No,94 of 2002 directed against the judgment dated 26-10-2001 passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Kasur, whereby he convicted the appellant under section 302(b), P.P.C. And sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment with further direction to pay Rs,50,000 as compensation to the legal heirs of Qamar Din deceased or in default thereof six months' R.I. With benefit of section 382-B, Cr.P.C.
2. The facts of the case in brief as narrated by the complainant in the F.I.R. Are that on 7-2-1998 at 1- 30 p.m. The complainant Abdul Shakoor injured P.W. Alongwith his maternal uncle was returning from the Court of A.C. And when they reached Chak Bawa Bus Stop, Manzoor armed with shot gun 12 bore, Wasal, Faiz, Yasin, Ibrahim and Amin armed with Sotas who were already present there, forcibly deboarded Qamar Din from the bus. Wasal caused Sota blow on the right leg of Qamar Din, Faiz hit him with Sota on his hand, Yasin accused caused Sota blow to the complainant on his right arm. Ibrahim caused Sota blow to Qamar Din on his left leg. Amin caused Sota blow to complainant on the front of his lip. Manzoor kept on firing with his shotgun .12 bore and raising 'Lalkara' that any one coming near would not be spared. He also hit Qamar Din's right leg with the butt of shot gun who fell down on the ground unconscious. All the accused hit him with their Sotas on various parts of the body of the deceased. They both i,e, Qamar Din and Abdul Shakoor were removed to the hospital where Qamar Din succumbed to the injuries on 11-2-1998. Matter was reported to the'police.
3. After getting information the local police completed all the necessary formalities. Thereafter Shaukat Ali S-.-I. Proceeded to the spot. He took into possession blood-stained mud vide memo.
Exh.P.D. After the death of the deceased he prepared injury statement Exh.P.G. And inquest report Exh.P.H. He also received last worn clothes of Qamar Din deceased vide memo. Exh.P.J. On 8-3-1998 he arrested Amin, Yasin and Ibrahim accused. Thereafter investigation of the case was transferred to Muhammad Hayat, Inspector Range Crime, Lahore who recorded supplementary statement of Abdul Shakoor alongwith Arif and Liaqat to the effect that Muhammad Siddique was also accused in this case. He arrested Manzoor accused on 20-4-1998 when his bail before arrest was cancelled and on his pointation he got recovered gun from him vide memo. Exh.P.E. On 12-3-1998 Ali Asghar Inspector got recovered Sotas from Yasin and Ibraheem while they were in police custody vide memos. Exhs.P.B. And P.C. Faiz accused was found innocent during the investigation. Ultimately the appellant and his co-accused were challaned.
4. Prosecution in order to prove its case has produced as many as 14 witnesses including Doctor, Investigating Officers, eye-witnesses and other relevant persons. After tendering in evidence report of Chemical Examiner Exh.P.O., report of Serologist Exh.P.P. And report of Forensic Science Laboratory Exh.P.Q. Learned Assistant District Attorney closed the prosecution evidence. Thereafter statements of the accused were recorded under section 342, Cr.P.C. In which they pleaded their innocence.
After hearing the arguments advanced by the parties and going through the evidence produced by the parties, learned trial Court convicted and sentenced the appellant as mentioned above.
Hence this appeal.
5. Learned counsel for the appellant in support of this appeal submits that there is delay of 24 hours in lodging the F.I.R., that there is only one injury on the left leg of the deceased and this injury is also attributed to Manzoor co-accused who has been acquitted by the learned trial Court.
Learned counsel submits that Dr. Afzal Bashir P.W.9 had stated before the learned trial Court during cross-examination that these injuries could have been received if, some body falls from the height of 5 feet. Learned counsel submits that if case of the prosecution is taken to its entirety the offence would fall under section 337-F(iv), P.P.C., Ghair Jafiah Madhia and sentence for this offence is 5 years and the appellant is behind the bars for the last more than 5 years, that all the eye-witnesses are interrelated and also to the deceased, that it was not a premeditated occurrence, that only one injury has been attributed to the appellant and the same has not been repeated and the same is on the non-vital part of the deceased. Lastly he submits that either the appellant be acquitted of the charge or the sentence which he has already undergone be treated sufficient to meet the ends of justice.
6. On the other hand learned State Counsel submits that delay in the F.I.R. Has been explained by the complainant. He elaborates that the witnesses were busy in order to save the life of the deceased. He supports the judgment of the learned trial Court.
7. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and also have gone through the record available on the record. In the instant case six accused were mentioned in the F.I.R. In the instant case one person namely Qamar Din was murdered and one person i,e, the complainant was injured.
Manzoor and Faiz accused were acquitted by the learned trial Court while Yasin and Amin were awarded 3 and 2 years' R.I. Under section 337-F(ii), F(i), P.P.C. As far as Wasal is concerned he is still at large and has not been arrested. Appellant is behind the bars since his arrest. The only injury attributed to the appellant is injury No,2 according to his medico-legal report which is on the left leg of the deceased. It was also the case of the prosecution that Manzoor acquitted accused who was armed with fire-arm fired in the air and also gave injuries to the deceased with the butt of his gun on the left leg of the deceased, but there is only one injury on the leg of the deceased, that Manzoor co-accused has been acquitted by the learned trial Court only on the ground that the police had found him innocent. The role of present appellant is on similar footing to that of Manzoor who has been acquitted by the learned trial Court, even in my opinion the case of the appellant is on better footing than that of Manzoor acquitted co-accused who was attributed a butt injury. The word 'injury' has been mentioned by Abdul Shakoor injured eye-witness before the learned trial Court in his examination-in-chief. The doctor who had conducted medico-legal report and post- mortem examination on the dead body of the deceased, has never stated in whole of his statement that this injury proved fatal but according to the opinion of the doctor the cause of death was blunt tromma in abdomen and its complications. The injury which was alleged to have been caused by the appellant on the left leg of the deceased has nothing to do with the abdomen of the deceased.
8. After having heard the learned counsel for the parties and going through the evidence on the record, I am of the opinion that case against the appellant is of doubtful so benefit of doubt is granted to the appellant. He is acquitted of the charge. He shall be released forthwith if he is not required in any other case.