Supreme Court of Pakistan: In a petition filed against judgment of Lahore High Court dated 2-12-2025, whereby the petitioner was sentenced to death in a double murder case, Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, J., stated that is a well settled principle that where the motive for the offence is shrouded in mystery, then the extreme penalty of death is not warranted. Since, in the present case, the alleged motive remained doubtful and was not conclusively established by the prosecution, the Court held that the imposition of the death sentence was unjustified. Accordingly, while upholding the petitioner’s conviction, the death sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life.
On 6 February 2023, the petitioner forcibly entered the complainant’s residence and murdered his brother and father using a pistol and an axe. The Court observed that the conviction was founded on reliable, cogent, and confidence-inspiring evidence. The prompt lodging of the FIR ruled out any possibility of false implication. As the parties were known to each other and the incident occurred in broad daylight, the possibility of misidentification was completely excluded. Further, the presence of eyewitnesses at the scene of occurrence was undisputed. Consequently, the Court found no infirmity in the petitioner’s conviction.
However, while examining the question of sentence, the Court held that certain aspects of the prosecution case warranted reconsideration of the death penalty. The alleged motive was linked to the petitioner’s sister obtaining khulla, yet she did not suffer even a minor injury. The Court noted that had the prosecution’s theory of motive been correct, the petitioner would have caused harm to the sister as well. It reiterated the settled principle that where the motive for the offence remains doubtful or obscure, the extreme penalty of death is not justified.
Accordingly, while affirming the petitioner’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt, the Court held that the death sentence was unwarranted and modified the sentence to imprisonment for life.
[Faisal Mehmood v. State, Crl. Appeal No. 876 of 2025, decided on 12-5-2026]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the Petitioners: Osama Amin Qazi, ASC
For the Complaints: Jalil Akhtar, ASC
For the State: Rai Akhtar Hussain, APG, Punjab
