Muhammad Owais V Aawal Khan and another,
PCrLJ 2021 1638 · Balochistan High Court
This case involved a murder complaint where the complainant, Muhammad Owais, alleged that the accused, Awal Khan, and others shot and killed his brother. Medical examinations by two doctors concluded the victim died from firearm injuries to the skull. During investigation, the accused was arrested and requested the court to exhume the victim's body for a fresh post-mortem to verify the cause of death. The trial magistrate allowed this, and a revision petition against that order was also dismissed. The brother then approached the Balochistan High Court to quash the exhumation order.
The High Court ruled in favor of quashing the exhumation order. It held that exhumation was not necessary since the cause of death had already been clearly established through medical certificates from two doctors and a police investigation report, all consistently pointing to firearm injuries as the cause of death. The court explained that if the accused doubted the medical findings, the proper remedy was to challenge the doctors through cross-examination during trial, or present rebuttal expert testimony-not to seek physical exhumation of the body. The court also noted the request came six months after the death, making it more of an academic exercise than a genuine investigative necessity, and that the law on exhumation primarily concerns deaths occurring in police custody, which was not the situation here.
This judgment matters because it clarifies the limited circumstances under which courts should order exhumation, protecting the dignity of the deceased and preventing misuse of such requests as a delaying tactic in criminal trials when cause of death is already medically established.
یہ مقدمہ ایک قتل کی شکایت سے متعلق تھا جس میں شکایت کنندہ محمد اویس نے الزام لگایا تھا کہ ملزم اول خان اور دیگر افراد نے اس کے بھائی کو گولی مار کر قتل کیا۔ دو ڈاکٹروں کے طبی معائنوں سے یہ نتیجہ اخذ کیا گیا کہ مقتول کی موت کھوپڑی پر فائرنگ سے لگنے والے زخموں کے باعث ہوئی۔ تفتیش کے دوران ملزم کو گرفتار کیا گیا اور اس نے عدالت سے درخواست کی کہ موت کی وجہ کی تصدیق کے لیے مقتول کی لاش کو قبر سے نکال کر دوبارہ پوسٹ مارٹم کرایا جائے۔ ٹرائل مجسٹریٹ نے اس درخواست کو منظور کر لیا، اور اس فیصلے کے خلاف دائر نظرثانی کی درخواست بھی مسترد کر دی گئی۔ اس پر مقتول کے بھائی نے لاش نکالنے کے حکم کو کالعدم قرار دلوانے کے لیے بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ سے رجوع کیا۔
ہائی کورٹ نے لاش نکالنے کے حکم کو کالعدم قرار دیتے ہوئے فیصلہ دیا۔ عدالت نے قرار دیا کہ لاش نکالنے کی ضرورت نہیں تھی کیون