Muhammad Ashraf vs State S — 2026 YLR 1016 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE

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Muhammad Ashraf VS State S. 302(b)---Qatl-i-amd---Appreciation of evidence---Non-appearance of other inmates of the house as witnesses---Inconsequential---Accused was charged for committing murder of his wife/mother of complainant---Alleged by defence that the deceased lady was survived by one other son and two daughters but none of them came forward to speak against the appellant, which raised serious question mark qua authenticity of the prosecution story---Such submission had no force---In the matter of appreciation of the evidence it was not the number of witnesses rather quality of evidence was important---There was no requirement under the law that a particular number of witnesses were necessary to prove/disprove a fact---Evidence must be weighed not counted---One could easily understand that where the father was accused of murdering the mother, the children were placed in an extremely distressing and emotionally conflicted position---Moreover, it could not be expected that every child would have the same strength or willingness to testify against a parent, regardless of the circumstances---Fear, trauma, loyalty and psychological shock could all influence their conduct---Therefore, mere fact that some children did not come forward to depose against their father did not weaken the prosecution's case or undermine the credibility of the complainant, who took such a daring step to take his own father to task for committing the murder of his mother---Moreso, if the defence was so sure that other children were not ready to support the prosecution story, it had ample opportunity to examine them in their defence but no such effort was made, in the absence whereof, no premium could be extended to the appellant on that basis---Appeal against conviction was dismissed, in circumstances.

Muhammad Ashraf vs State S — 2026 YLR 1016 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE

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