LAL SHAH vs The STATE — 1970 SCMR 743

Citation: 1970 SCMR 743

Court: Supreme Court of Pakistan

Year: 1970

Decision Date: 1970-03-03

Parties: LAL SHAH vs The STATE

Headnotes

Case cited as 1970 SCMR 743

Judgment Text

Court Name: Supreme Court of Pakistan Judge(s): Waheeduddin Ahmad, Mujibur Rahman Khan, Muhammad Yaqub Ali Khan Title: LAL SHAH vs The STATE Case No.: Criminal Appeal No. 56 of 1969 Criminal Appeal No. 57 of 1967 Date of Judgment:1970-03-03 Reported As: 1970 SCMR 743 Result: Appeal allowed JUDGMENT JUDGMENT M. R. KHAN, J.-The appellant was tried under section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code for having committed the murder of his sister Mst. Bahishtan. He was convicted for the offence of murder and sentenced to death. On appeal and reference, the High Court of West Pakistan, Lahore, dismissed the appeal and confirmed the sentence of death. There was no direct evidence as to how Alst. Bahishtan had been done to death and by whom. The conviction and sentence of the appellant rested entirely on circumstantial evidence. As the criticism offered on the pieces of circumstantial evidence did not appear to be unsubstantial, leave was granted to re-examine the evidence. Before stating the facts as to how the murder in this case was discovered, it would be useful to give a short narrative about Mst. Bahishtan. Kamal Shah, a resident of village Malka Hans had abducted Mst. Sardaran, were of Walayat Shah, more than 20 years ago. Walayat Shah died and Mst. Sardaran continued to live with Kamal Shah as his were. The appellant Lai Shah and the deceased Mst. Bahishtan were born of the womb of Mst. Sardaran. This Sardaran was the maternal aunt of Talib Hussain (P. W. 17). Mst. Bahishtan had…

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