Arbaz Ali vs State S — 2026 PCrLJ 120 ISLAMABAD

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

Arbaz Ali VS State S. 295-B---Willfully defiling, damaging, or desecrating a copy of the Holy Quran---Appreciation of evidence---Mental condition of the accused---Scope---Accused was charged for tearing the pages of Holy Quran and using derogatory words about it---Fundamental aspect of the case was the mental condition of the accused, who was apprehended on the same date i.e. 30.05.2022 and he remained under treatment with Medical Officer, who while appearing as a witness in the Court stated that she was posted at PIMS Psychiatry Department and patient (appellant) aged 25 years was brought by police in handcuffs with the complaints of hearing multiple voices and suspiciousness---Appellant also had history of substance misuse, and violent and disruptive behavior---Final conclusion given by the said medical witness was that appellant was diagnosed as a case of paranoid schizophrenia plus substance addict by consultant doctor---After detail examination, it was concluded that patient/appellant was case of paranoid schizophrenia and illicit substance induced psychosis---Act of blasphemy was done in psychotic state of mind with no insight into the process---Primarily, Court was unable to understand why the said Medical Officer was called as Court witness in the Court, especially when she treated the patient at the initial stage and the Investigating Officer brought the appellant to the hospital for his psychotic evaluation---As per the statement of Investigating Officer, the appellant remained under treatment from 30.05.2022 till 18.06.2022, and the opinion rendered by medical witness had been referred in the final report under S.173, Cr.P.C., which had been taken judicial notice of---When no explanation had been rendered by the prosecution as to why this prosecution witness was designated as Court Witness, it appeared she was intentionally not called as a prosecution witness, especially when she had rendered a clear opinion regarding the mental illness of the appellant, in which no criminal liability could be imposed---However, this aspect was not taken into account by the Trial Court, rather the Court allowed the State as well as the complainant to cross-examine the said Court Witness---Nevertheless, despite extensive cross-examination of Court Witness, prosecution could not make any dent that the appellant was not treated for mental illness or that the opinion rendered by said witness, being a Medical Officer in the Psychiatry Department of PIMS, was contrary to the record---During the cross-examination, it had also been confirmed that the disease paranoid schizophrenia was an extreme form of schizophrenia---Patient of paranoid schizophrenia must be kept in isolation and under care instead of keeping him free in public---Paranoid schizophrenia was the last/highest degree of the said disease and as per Medical Officer's investigation, the patient was ill---In this case, no specific plea of illness was taken by the appellant under S.342, Cr.P.C., but the prosecution presented evidence of mental illness through Medical Officer and the report remained un-rebutted throughout the cross-examination---Appeal against conviction was allowed, in circumstances.

Arbaz Ali vs State S — 2026 PCrLJ 120 ISLAMABAD

Case information

Judgment text as reported

Other judgments reported in 2026 PCRLJ