DILAWAR HUSSAIN vs THE STATE
The petitioner, convicted under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 and sentenced to life imprisonment, sought leave to appeal against the dismissal of his appeal by the High Court. The core legal question presented is whether the act of inflicting a single fatal knife injury on the victim's thigh, arising from a sudden quarrel over a monetary dispute of Rs. 150 without prior enmity, constitutes an offence under Section 304 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 rather than Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860. The petitioner argued that the circumstances of the incident, specifically the lack of premeditation and the nature of the dispute, warrant a reclassification of the offence. The Supreme Court granted leave to appeal to examine whether the conviction should be altered based on the contention that the incident occurred during a sudden quarrel, thereby potentially mitigating the offence from murder to a lesser charge under the relevant provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860.
- Does a single fatal injury inflicted during a sudden quarrel over a monetary dispute constitute an offence under Section 304 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 instead of Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860?
- Can the absence of prior enmity between the parties mitigate a conviction for murder to a lesser offence under the Pakistan Penal Code 1860?
- Section 302, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 304, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
ORDER
1. SAJJAD ALI SHAH, J.----Petitioner is convicted for offence under section 302, P.P.C. And is sentenced to imprisonment for life. His appeal is dismissed by the High Court. It is submitted that according to the prosecution only one knife injury was inflicted on the upper part of right thigh which caused death and that also on account of sudden quarrel with regard to payment of Rs.150 as there was no enmity between the parties. In the circumstances, it is submitted that offence would fall under section 304, P.P.C. And not under section 302, P.P.C. In support of the proposition, reliance is placed on cases of Muhammad Slaim v. Muhammad Aslam and others (1983 SCM R 53) and Munawar Hussain v. The State (1983 SCM R 1165). Leave is granted to examine the contention mentioned above.