Mohibullah V. The State,
YLR 2020 1241 · Balochistan High Court
This case involved an appeal against a death sentence given to Mohibullah, who was convicted of shooting and killing Naib Risaldar Hayatullah, a levies official, in Killa Saifullah district in 2018. The official had responded to reports of a quarrel between groups at a bazaar and was attempting to arrest the accused when he was shot dead. The trial court had convicted the accused under murder laws and also under the Anti-Terrorism Act, sentencing him to death.
The Balochistan High Court upheld the conviction for murder, finding the evidence solid, including a promptly filed police report naming the accused, and ballistic evidence matching the recovered pistol to the shooting. However, the court reduced the death sentence to life imprisonment, citing several mitigating factors: there was no proof the original quarrel had been reported to police, no witnesses from the other group involved in the altercation were produced, the attack appeared spontaneous rather than premeditated, the deceased official was not wearing his uniform at the time, and the accused fired only a single shot rather than repeatedly shooting the victim.
Importantly, the court also overturned the terrorism conviction entirely, ruling that since only the official was targeted, no one else was injured, and the legal requirements for an act to qualify as "terrorism" were not met. This case illustrates how courts carefully distinguish between ordinary crimes and terrorism charges, and how specific case circumstances can lead to reduced sentences even after guilt is established.
یہ مقدمہ محب اللہ کو سنائی گئی سزائے موت کے خلاف اپیل سے متعلق تھا، جسے 2018 میں ضلع قلعہ سیف اللہ میں لیویز کے اہلکار نائب رسالدار حیات اللہ کو گولی مار کر قتل کرنے کے جرم میں مجرم قرار دیا گیا تھا۔ مذکورہ اہلکار بازار میں مختلف گروہوں کے درمیان جھگڑے کی اطلاع ملنے پر موقع پر پہنچا تھا اور ملزم کو گرفتار کرنے کی کوشش کر رہا تھا جب اسے گولی مار کر ہلاک کر دیا گیا۔ ٹرائل کورٹ نے ملزم کو قتل کے قوانین کے ساتھ ساتھ انسدادِ دہشت گردی ایکٹ کے تحت بھی مجرم قرار دیتے ہوئے اسے سزائے موت سنائی تھی۔
بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ نے قتل کے جرم میں سزا کو برقرار رکھا، اور شواہد کو ٹھوس قرار دیا، جن میں ملزم کا نام لیتے ہوئے فوری طور پر درج کی گئی پولیس رپورٹ اور بیلسٹک شواہد شامل تھے جو برآمد شدہ پستول کو فائرنگ کے واقعے سے جوڑتے تھے۔ تاہم عدالت نے کئی حاتمی عوامل کا حوالہ