MUHAMMAD ASGHAR vs State Ss — 2025 SCMR 1616 SUPREME-COURT

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MUHAMMAD ASGHAR VS State Ss. 302(b), 352 & 354---Qatl-i-amd, assault or criminal force used against someone, except when there is grave and sudden provocation, assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty---Re-appraisal of evidence---Benefit of doubt---Recovery of weapon of offence---Inconsequential---Petitioner/accused was charged for committing murder of the husband of complainant by inflicting danda blows and then he subjected complainant and her daughter to physical assault and tore their clothes, in an attempt to outrage their modesty---Danda was said to have been recovered from the petitioner's residence upon his pointation and that recovery constituted a foundational part of the prosecution's case---Recovery, in order to carry evidentiary value, must not only be legally secured but also supported by linking it to an accused and the offence, especially where it formed a critical link in the prosecution's case---In the present matter, neither was the recovered Danda found stained with blood nor was it subjected to any chemical or serological examination, so as to connect it with the injuries sustained by the deceased---Police remained content with a mere mechanical assertion of recovery without undertaking the essential step of forensic verification---No report of the Chemical Examiner or Serologist had been brought on the record---In such a situation, the recovery, stripped of scientific support, stand materially weakened and does not advance the prosecution's case in any meaningful way---Appeal against conviction was allowed, in circumstances.

MUHAMMAD ASGHAR vs State Ss — 2025 SCMR 1616 SUPREME-COURT

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