Ubaid Khan vs State S — 2024 PCrLJ 1153 PESHAWAR-HIGH-COURT

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Ubaid Khan VS State S. 302(b)---Qatl-i-amd---Appreciation of evidence---Sentence, reduction in---Mitigating circumstances---Accused was charged for committing murder of his mother with axe blows---Record showed that the occurrence took place at the spur of the moment and as per Medico-Legal Report of the deceased, a wound was found on temporal region with hematoma but there was no active bleeding and the bone was not exposed, therefore, prima facie it seemed that the accused had no premeditation or intention to harm his mother or for that matter inflict a life-threatening injury on her person, rather it appeared that the occurrence took place at the spur of the moment coupled with the fact that the deceased had received a single blow---Eye account of the daughter of the deceased showed that the accused after the unfortunate incident took his injured mother in his lap and accompanied her dead body to the hospital---No doubt, the statute was clear enough regarding the quantum of sentence but it should not skip the attention of the Court that normal punishment under the Statute shall be another fatal blow to the bereaved family, which had lost their mother followed by their brother, as such, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case lesser punishment shall meet the ends of justice---During the course of investigation, the Investigation Officer collected garments of the accused, which had blood spots allegedly of the deceased, therefore, it showed that he did not escape from the venue of crime i.e. the house in question---Rather accused took his injured mother in his lap and thereafter accompanied her dead body to the hospital, as such, the very conduct and demeanor of the accused was quite natural---On all counts, all the minor weaknesses and lacunas in the evidence of prosecution, might not be taken as a justification for the out-right acquittal of the accused, but such weaknesses might be considered for reduction of his sentence---When an accused person committed an offence without any premeditation or planning and in the heat of a free-fight struck the deceased with a single blow, his case would come within clause (c) of S.302, P.P.C---Thus, conviction of accused was altered from S.302(b), P.P.C. to S.302(c), P.P.C., and consequently his sentence was altered from life imprisonment to ten years imprisonment---Appeal was dismissed with such modification.

Ubaid Khan vs State S — 2024 PCrLJ 1153 PESHAWAR-HIGH-COURT

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