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Criminal Petition for Special Leave to Appeal No. 323 of 1980, decided on 6th April, 1981.
(On appeal against the judgment of Lahore High Court, dated 26-3-1980 in Criminal Appeal No. 555 of 1978).
------Art. 185(3) and Penal Code (XLV of 1860), S. 302-[Murder case]-Leave to appeal-Weapon of offence recovered from roof of tube-well and that place held by High Court accessible to others-Such weapon remaining in rain and sun for many days when recovery effected-Recovery witnesses interested not believed totally Question whether necessary corroboration at all forthcoming in circumstances requiring examination-Leave to appeal granted.
B. A. Awan, Advocate Supreme Court with Muhammad Aslam Chaudhry, Advocate-on-Record for Petitioner.
Nemo for the State.
The petitioner who was convicted of the offence under section 302, P. P. C. and sentenced to life imprisonment seeks leave to appeal against the judgment of the Lahore High Court dated 26-3-1980.
2. The petitioner alongwith four others related to him were tried for committing the murder of -Ahmad Din at 5-30 a.m. on 24-7-1974 in village Jhugian Jhaba at a distance of four miles from the Police Station, Misri Shah in District Lahore.
3. The motive for the occurrence given out was that father of the petitioner was murdered in 1955 for which the deceased and others were implicated but finally acquitted. The petitioner was said to have used the datar in inflicting injuries which was got recovered at his instance on 15-8-1974 and found to be stained with human blood. The learned trial Judge acquitted the other four tried with the petitioner but finding corrobora tion as against him only from the recovery of the blood-stained datar he was found to be guilty and sentenced to death.
4. The learned Judges in the High Court also considered that three eye-witnesses produced in this case to be highly interested looked for corrobora tion and found it in the recovery of the blood-stained datar and upheld the conviction but altered the sentence to life imprisonment in view of the fact that according to the prosecution itself the occurrence was on account of vindication of the murder of the petitioner's father which had gone unpunished.
5. The learned counsel contends that according to the prosecution case itself the recovery of datar had taken place from the roof of the to well of Inayat Ali and even the High Court has held that it was a place accessible to others. Besides, the datar had remained exposed to rain and sun from 24-7-1974 to 15-8-1974 when the recovery was effected. The recover witnesses were the same interested witnesses who bad not been believed totally. The Investigating Officer who alone was believed by the High Court was held by the trial Court not to have conducted the investigation honestly and fairly. The datar itself was kept at the Police Station long after the recovery and the connecting evidence of its having been sent to the Chemical Examiner was not brought on the record. It is said that such corroboration could be of no avail to the prosecution and the evident, which was considered insufficient as against the other co-accused should have been held so against the petitioner as well.
6. We find that the question whether the necessary corroboration was at all forthcoming is one, which does require examination of this Court in order to ensure safe administration of Criminal Justice. Leave is, therefore, granted.
Leave granted.
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