State thr. Advocate General, KP vs Muhammad Rafiq & others
This criminal appeal challenges the acquittal of the respondents by the Peshawar High Court for the qatl-e-amd of two persons, which had initially resulted in their conviction by the trial court. The core legal question concerns the appreciation of ocular evidence, specifically the presence and reliability of the primary eyewitness mother at the crime scene and the credibility of corroborating testimonies. The Supreme Court held that the High Court's acquittal was based on a prudently possible view, noting the improbability of the mother's presence at the public thoroughfare during the fateful hours in a rural Pashtoon setting, compounded by material contradictions and witness deviation. The key principle laid down is that an appellate court will not interfere with an acquittal judgment premised on a plausible view of the evidence merely because another interpretation is conceivable.
- Whether an appellate court can interfere with an acquittal judgment based on a plausible view of the evidence?
- Does the presence of a close relative eyewitness in a rural setting require strict scrutiny regarding their availability at the crime scene?
- What is the effect of material contradictions and deviation of witnesses on the prosecution's case in a homicide trial?
- Section 382-B, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, J.- Through leave of the Court, respondents' acquittal from the charge of homicide by a learned division bench of the Peshawar High Court vide impugned judgment dated 31.1.2007 has been called into question; they were returned a guilty verdict by a learned Additional Sessions Judge, at Swabi for committing qatl-e-amd of Tariq Ahmed and Muhammad Rafiq on 11.10.1990 within the precincts of Police Station Swabi while they were being sent off by their mother Mst. Poshan, PW, on their way to Islamabad; convicted on two counts of homicide they were sentenced to imprisonment for life on each, to run concurrently with benefit of Section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.
2. Learned counsel for the appellant contends that there was no occasion for the learned High Court to acquit the respondents from the charge inasmuch as prosecution successfully proved its case beyond a shadow of doubt on the strength of confidence inspiring evide nce leaving no space to entertain any hypothesis other than their guilt. It is next argued that presence of Mst. Poshan, PW with her sons at the time of their departure for Islamabad cannot be viewed with suspicion; on the contrary her last detour with the deceased sons is most confidence inspiring and she certainly is not expected to swap the real offenders through substitution. The impugned acquittal has resulted into miscarriage of justice warranting interference by this Court, concludes the learned counsel.
3. Magnitude of calamity and concomitan t trauma for the family, notwithstanding what weighed with the learned High Court nonetheless is improbability of complainant's presence at the crime scene during the fateful hours.
Emotional attachments apart it is rather unusual for a woman more so in a pashtoon rural neighborhood to accompany her sons at a public thorough fare who had already spent preceding day in her company.
Prosecution's dilemma has been further compounded by deviation of Inzar Gul from his previous statement; conflict between ocular account and medical evidence noticed by learned High Court is not unrealistic. Once presence of Mst. Poshan, PW is found suspect, the testimony of Inzar Gul is also cast away. In this backdrop, impugned acquittal is premised on a prudently possible view which cannot be reversed merely on contra contemplation. Appeal is dismissed.
Cited by 3 cases
- Malik Zaffar vs Rashid Hussain Shah and another 2023 PSC (Crl.) 14
- Nasir Hussain and others vs State and anothers PLJ 2021 Cr.C. 1057
- Malik Zaffar son of Ghulam Sarwar, r/o Kotla, Phagwari, Tehsil and District 2022 SC AJK 42