| Case ID |
e225757d-7b21-479b-b713-91ac5144962d |
| Body |
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| Case Number |
Criminal Appeals Nos. 621, 630, 901 of 2010, 896 o |
| Decision Date |
Dec 10, 2014 |
| Hearing Date |
Dec 10, 2014 |
| Decision |
The Lahore High Court decided on the appeals and acquitted all appellants, namely Samar Abbas, Muhammad Nawaz, Ghulam Sajjad, and Imtiaz Ahmad, of the charges against them due to lack of evidence and reasonable doubt. The court emphasized the principle that the prosecution must establish its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and any ambiguity must be resolved in favor of the accused. The court found that the circumstantial evidence presented did not form a continuous chain linking the accused to the crime. Consequently, the death sentence against some of the accused was not confirmed, and they were released from custody if not required in any other cases. |
| Summary |
This case revolves around the acquittal of four individuals accused of murder under the Pakistan Penal Code. The Lahore High Court reviewed the evidence presented, emphasizing the necessity of a continuous chain of circumstantial evidence. The court found that the prosecution failed to meet its burden of proof, leading to the conclusion that the accused were entitled to the benefit of the doubt. The ruling reinforced legal principles concerning the presumption of innocence and the requirement for a high standard of proof in criminal cases. Keywords include 'murder acquittal', 'Pakistan Penal Code', 'circumstantial evidence', 'benefit of doubt', and 'Lahore High Court'. |
| Court |
Lahore High Court
|
| Entities Involved |
Not available
|
| Judges |
MUHAMMAD TARIQ ABBASI,
QAZI MUHAMMAD AMIN AHMED
|
| Lawyers |
Syed Badar Raza Gillani,
Haji Muhammad Tariq Aziz Khokhar,
Wajid Ali Bhatti,
Bashir Ahmad Khan Buzdar,
Waseem Sarwar,
Malik Riaz Ahmad Saghla
|
| Petitioners |
SAMAR ABBAS
|
| Respondents |
THE STATE
|
| Citations |
2017 SLD 375 = 2017 YLR 48
|
| Other Citations |
The State v. Manzoor Ahmad PLD 1966 SC 664,
Asadullah and another v. The State and another 1999 SCMR 1034,
Ch. Barkat Ali v. Major Karam Elahi Zia and another 1992 SCMR 1047,
Sarfraz Khan v. The State and 2 others 1996 SCMR 188,
Altaf Hussain v. Fakhar Hussain and another 2008 SCMR 1103,
Ibrahim and others v. The State 2009 SCMR 407,
Tahir Javed v. The State 2009 SCMR 166,
Sajid Mumtaz and others v. Basharat and others 2006 SCMR 231,
Muhammad Khan and another v. The State 1999 SCMR 1220,
Ghulam Akbar and another v. The State 2008 SCMR 1064,
Muhammad Akram v. The State 2009 SCMR 230,
Ayub Masih v. The State PLD 2002 SC 1048
|
| Laws Involved |
Pakistan Penal Code, 1860
|
| Sections |
34,
109,
302,
302(b)
|