Mst. Khan Bibi and others V. Abdul Malik and others,
PCrLJ 2012 288 · Balochistan High Court
This case involved the murder of a young man, Ghulam Nabi, who was shot and killed near Quetta in 2005. His mother, Mst. Khan Bibi, filed the initial police report, but it named different suspects based on suspicion arising from an earlier dispute over stolen goats. Later, three men, Abdul Malik, Muhammad Arif and Saleh Muhammad, were tried for the murder but were acquitted by the trial court, prompting the complainant to appeal against their acquittal.
The Balochistan High Court upheld the acquittals. It found serious problems with the prosecution's evidence: the eyewitnesses were closely related to the deceased, appeared at the scene under questionable circumstances, and had added exaggerated details to strengthen the case, undermining their credibility. Their account also did not match the medical evidence, and they behaved unusually for people supposedly witnessing a murder, doing nothing to help the victim or catch the attackers. The court also noted the prosecution failed to properly prove any motive, despite trying to establish one.
The judgment reinforces an important principle in criminal law: when the prosecution chooses to allege a motive, it must prove it convincingly, and courts must critically scrutinize eyewitness testimony, especially when witnesses are relatives of the victim and their conduct or accounts raise doubts. This case highlights how weak or inconsistent evidence can lead to acquittal even in serious crimes like murder, and why appellate courts are cautious about overturning acquittals without strong justification.
یہ مقدمہ ایک نوجوان غلام نبی کے قتل سے متعلق ہے جسے 2005 میں کوئٹہ کے قریب گولی مار کر ہلاک کر دیا گیا تھا۔ مقتول کی والدہ مسماۃ خان بی بی نے ابتدائی طور پر پولیس میں رپورٹ درج کرائی، تاہم اس میں مختلف افراد کو ملزم قرار دیا گیا تھا جن پر شک اس سے قبل بکریوں کی چوری کے تنازعے کی بنیاد پر کیا گیا تھا۔ بعد ازاں تین افراد، عبدالمالک، محمد عارف اور صالح محمد پر قتل کے الزام میں مقدمہ چلایا گیا، مگر ٹرائل کورٹ نے انہیں بری کر دیا، جس پر مدعی نے بریت کے خلاف اپیل دائر کی۔
بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ نے ملزمان کی بریت کو برقرار رکھا۔ عدالت نے استغاثہ کے شواہد میں سنگین خامیاں پائیں: چشم دید گواہ مقتول کے قریبی رشتہ دار تھے، ان کا موقع واردات پر پہنچنا مشکوک حالات میں ہوا، اور انہوں نے مقدمے کو مضبوط بنانے کے لیے مبالغہ آمیز تفصیلات شامل کیں، جس سے ان کی ساکھ مجروح ہوئی۔ ان کا