MUHAMMAD TUFAIL and 2 others vs THE STATE
This petition for leave to appeal arose from an order of the Lahore High Court, which had questioned an acquittal based on a compromise in a murder case. The petitioners, accused of murder under sections 148, 302, and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860, had been acquitted by a Special Court following a compromise with the complainant (the deceased's father) and his wife. However, the High Court subsequently noted that the deceased was survived by minor siblings, rendering the compromise legally insufficient for acquittal. The Supreme Court examined the facts and confirmed that the existence of minor heirs was admitted by the petitioners. Consequently, the Supreme Court held that the High Court's order, which was interlocutory in nature and sought to address the legal validity of the compromise in the presence of minor heirs, did not warrant interference. The Court refused leave to appeal, effectively upholding the High Court's scrutiny of the compromise arrangement.
- Can an acquittal based on a compromise be sustained in a murder case where the deceased is survived by minor heirs?
- Does the existence of minor heirs invalidate a compromise agreement reached between the accused and the parents of the deceased?
- Is an order by the High Court directing further consideration of a compromise in a criminal case an interlocutory order that does not warrant Supreme Court interference?
- Section 148, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 302, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 149, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
' MUHAMMAD RAFIQ TARAR, J.---Muhammad Tufail and two others seek leave to appeal from the order of the learned Division Bench of the Lahore High Court dated 3-5-1993 whereby a week's time was allowed to the petitioners "to consider and consult among themselves for the payment of Rs,1,72,000 to Mian Khan" as Badl-e-Sulh.
2. The relevant facts are that a case under section 148/302/149 of thc P.P.C. Was registered against the petitioners and three others for the murder of Muhammad Nawaz. It was sent for trial to the Special Court No, IV-Lahore.
3. The prosecution had examined as many as 13 witnesses when Mian Khan, the complainant (father of the deceased), moved an application that in pursuance of a compromise he had forgiven the petitioners and their co-accused and had no objection to their acquittal. He, appearing as C.W.1 and his wife Mst. Hamida Bibi (mother of the deceased) as C.W.2 made similar statements in the Court whereupon the learned trial Judge acquitted the accused persons.
4. In the impugned order the learned Judges of the High Court observed that a probe into the facts of the case revealed that besides the parents, the deceased had also minor sisters and brothers, therefore, acquittal on the basis of compromise was unwarranted. They, therefore, passed the order referred to above.
5. The fact that the deceased had minor sisters and brothers has not been controverted before us.
It is rather admitted in ground IV(1) of the petition that the deceased had minor heirs. In that view of the matter and the fact that the impugned order is interlocutory one, we do not feel inclined to interfere. Leave to appeal is refused.