SHAHADAT alias SHADDA vs THE STATE
This petition for leave to appeal challenged a judgment of the Lahore High Court, which had upheld the petitioner's conviction under Section 10 of the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance 1979, while modifying the sentence from five years' rigorous imprisonment and 30 stripes to three years' rigorous imprisonment. The core legal question before the Supreme Court was whether the High Court's decision to maintain the conviction and reduce the sentence warranted interference through a grant of leave to appeal. The Supreme Court examined the record, which included medical evidence confirming the rape of the 15-year-old victim, Mst. Rani, and corroborating testimony from her mother and other witnesses. The Court held that the High Court had already adopted an unnecessarily lenient approach in reducing the sentence. Finding no merit in the arguments presented by the petitioner, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition for leave to appeal, thereby affirming the conviction and the modified sentence imposed by the High Court. The judgment reinforces the principle that appellate courts must carefully weigh evidence in Hudood cases before granting leniency.
- Does the reduction of a sentence by the High Court in a case involving the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance 1979 constitute a ground for Supreme Court interference?
- Is a conviction under Section 10 of the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance 1979 sustainable when supported by medical evidence and corroborating witness testimony?
- Section 10, Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance 1979
ORDER
1. ' JAVID IQBAL, J.--This petition for leave to appeal is directed against the judgment of the Lahore High Court, Lahore dated 24 May, 1988 whereby conviction under section 10 of Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance 1979 of the petitioner was maintained but his sentence was reduced from five years to three years' R.I. And the sentence of 30 stripes was set aside. The petitioner was originally convicted under the aforesaid section by the trial Court and sentenced to five years' R.I. Plus 30 stripes, but on appeal the High Court maintaining the conviction altered the sentence as stated above. The victim in the instant case is Mst. Rani aged 15 years and the medical evidence is to the effect that she had been raped. Her version is being supported by her mother Mst. Janatey, Abbas and Muhammad Aslam. The learned High Court has already taken a lenient view in the matter which was in fact uncalled for in the circumstances of the case.
2. ' After going through the record and hearing the learned counsel no case is made out for the grant of leave. The petition is therefore dismissed.