PROVINCE OF PUNJAB vs Mst — 2025 PLC(CS) 807 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE

Fields are extracted from the reported citation and judgment text. Where a detail is not stated in the record, it is not shown.

PROVINCE OF PUNJAB VS Mst. NAZIRA SAIF R.12---Police official---Injured in police encounter and later passing away---Plea by widow for declaration as to status of 'Shaheed'---Shaheed package, entitlement to---Absence of absolute medical certainty regarding causation of death---Evidential burden in cases of uncertain medical causation---Scope---Medical uncertainty in causation of death or injury must not defeat the claimant's case---In circumstances where honest medical opinion cannot definitively segregate the causes of an injury or death, the burden of evidential uncertainty must not unjustly fall upon the injured party---To seek declaration of Shaheed, the pursuer cannot be burdened with any higher degree of proof, over and above already discharged by the respondent-widow in the present case---Police department cannot expect pursuer of declaration of Shaheed to discharge the burden up to the standard required in criminal cases---Moreover, while dealing with a case of employer's liability, when honest medical evaluation cannot segregate the causes to reach a definitive conclusion, from the evidential point of view, one may ask, why should a man who is able to show that his employer should have taken certain precautions, because without them there is a risk, or an added risk, of injury or disease, and who in fact sustains exactly that injury or disease, have to assume the burden of proving more: namely, that it was the addition to the risk, caused by the breach of duty, which caused or materially contributed to the injury? In many cases of which the present is typical, this is impossible to prove, just because honest medical opinion cannot segregate the causes of an illness between compound causes, and if one asks which of the parties, the workman or the employers should suffer from this inherent evidential difficulty, the answer as a matter in policy or justice should be that it is the creator of the risk who, ex hypothesi, must be taken to have foreseen the possibility of damage, who should bear its consequences---Appeal was dismissed, in circumstances.

PROVINCE OF PUNJAB vs Mst — 2025 PLC(CS) 807 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE

Case information

Judgment text as reported

Other judgments reported in 2025 PLC