MUHAMMAD ANWAR and others vs THE STATE
This matter arises from a petition for leave to appeal directed against the judgment of the Lahore High Court dated 10-4-1988, which convicted and sentenced the petitioners under sections 148 and 326/149 of the Pakistan Penal Code, setting aside their acquittal by the trial court. The core legal questions involve the condonation of a fifty-four-day delay in filing the petition for leave to appeal and the justification for setting aside an acquittal by the High Court. The Supreme Court held that the petition was barred by time without a satisfactory explanation for the delay, and further found that on merits, the High Court had duly considered all relevant facts, evidence, and legal aspects when setting aside the trial court's acquittal. The key principle laid down is that a petition barred by time without sufficient cause merits dismissal, and an appellate court's reversal of an acquittal based on a proper re-evaluation of evidence and material facts warrants no interference.
- Whether a petition for leave to appeal barred by time can be entertained without a satisfactory explanation for the delay?
- Under what circumstances may the High Court set aside an order of acquittal passed by a trial court?
- Is interference warranted when the High Court has duly considered all relevant facts, weapons used, injuries, and the quantum of sentence?
- Section 148, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 326, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 149, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
ORDER
1. ' GHULAM MUJADDID, J.--Muhammad Anwar, Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Jafar and Muhammad Bashir seek leave to appeal against the judgment of the Lahore High Court dated 10- 4-1988.
2. ' The High Court by means of the impugned judgment convicted and sentenced the petitioners to one year R.I. Each under section 148, P.P.C. And five years' R.I. Each under section 326/149, P.P.C. And a fine of Rs,5,000 each, thereby setting aside the order of acquittal passed by the trial Court dated 24-3-1986.
3. ' The incident in which the petitioners are alleged to have been involved took place on 26-3-1980 at Mauza Bhaini Nau within the area of Police Station, Sharaqpur. Report was lodged by Muhammad Tufail.
4. ' The petitioners were tried by Magistrate Section 30, Ferozewala. All of them were acquitted by the trial Court by judgment dated 24-3-1986.
5. ' This petition is barred by fifty-four days. The reason given in the application for condonation of delay was that the arguments were heard by the High Court on 8th, 14th and 15th of December, 1987 and the judgment was announced on 10-4-1988 in the absence of the petitioners. Paragraph 3 of the application reads as under:- "That the petitioners learnt about the pronouncement of the impugned judgment of High Court somewhere in the third week of May, 1988, whereupon they applied for the certified copies of documents which were made available to them on 29-5-1988."
6. It is not mentioned as to how and when did the petitioners come to know of the impugned judgment. Learned counsel was unable to give any explanation at the Bar. Hence this petition merits dismissal on this short ground alone. Nevertheless we allowed the counsel to argue the case on merits.
7. ' Even on merits, the petitioners have no case because the judgment of acquittal was set aside by the High Court. "After carefully examining the entire evidence I am of the firm view that the reasons given by the trial Court for rejecting the evidence of Muhammad Tufail, Muhammad Hussain and Mst. Zubeda P.Ws. Are absolutely baseless".
8. The High Court took all the relevant facts into consideration the weapon used, number of injuries and the quantum of sentence. It is thus obvious that the High Court considered all the legal and factual aspects of the case. Hence no interference is called for.