MANZOOR AHMED vs STATE — 2026 SCMR 621 SUPREME-COURT

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MANZOOR AHMED VS STATE. Ss. 302(b), 377 & 34---Qatl-i-amd, sodomy, common intention---Re-appraisal of evidence---Last seen evidence doubtful. Accused was charged for committing sodomy with the son of complainant and then murdering him. Witness of last seen evidence claimed that he had last seen the appellant leading the deceased from mosque's gate up its stairs. Said witness statedly had seen that happen around 9:00 p.m. on 24.11.2011 from his vantage point at a barber shop, where he had called his relative and from where he would head onwards to some other place that same night. Said witness returned home on 27.11.2011 where he was informed about the death of deceased. Said witness allegedly set out to offer his condolences to the complainant that very day; when en-route he encountered a police mobile van where he informed the Investigating Officer that he last saw the deceased with the appellant. There were, however, flaws in testimony of said witness; foremost amongst those was that said witness had not promptly informed that he last saw the deceased with the appellant, preferring only to inform the police when he happened to cross paths with a police mobile van. Said delay raised doubt for the additional reason that the incident had caused uproar in the locality and said witness likely having knowledge of the same, still did not come forward promptly. Said witness also acknowledged during cross-examination that in his statement to the police under Section 161 of the Cr.P.C., he did not mention that he encountered the police mobile van. Again, said witness did not reasonably explain his presence at the barbershop except by stating that he had called his relative there even though the said relative lived at a great distance from the shop and despite that the barber himself was not present at the shop. Furthermore, the sitemap did not describe any barbershop from where the gate of the mosque was within view despite describing adjacent houses and streets. Sitemap certainly did not describe any source of light at the entrance of the mosque or the gate itself. Said witness's testimony as the "last seen" witness was thus also rendered doubtful. Appeal against conviction was allowed, in circumstances.

MANZOOR AHMED vs STATE — 2026 SCMR 621 SUPREME-COURT

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