338/2011 Criminal Appeal Mst. Shumaila (Appellant) V/S The State (Respondent)
Sindh High Court
Bench: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Nazar Akbar
Order Date: 28-OCT-15
(a) Penal Code (XLV of 1860)--- ----S. 302---Qatl-i-amd--- Appreciation of evidence---Accused was alleged to have murdered her husband by strangulation----Neither the injuries to the victim in the present case were proved to have been caused by accused nor strangulation was proved by medical reports as postmortem report was declared substandard by Medical Board and except her natural presence at the scene of incident being wife nothing else was before the court to treat as circumstantial evidence connecting accused with the offence---Alleged rope said to have been used for strangulation was not recovered by prosecution---Trial Court in the impugned conviction order had already held that prosecution had failed to prove motive and medical evidence did not prove strangulation, thus accused had no reason/motive to kill and same was sufficient to disbelieve the prosecution story---Burden was on prosecution to prove accused's involvement particularly her criminal role in the unnatural death of her husband to be treated as murder but Trial Court shifted the burden on accused---Mere unnatural death without any corroborating piece of evidence in shape of medical reports could not be treated as murder on suspicion alone---Trial Court convicted the accused on sole presumption that sudden death of deceased in short span of time without any clinical cause and reason was unusual and since the death took place inside the house of the lady accused in the night hours, her failure to provide necessary treatment was wilful, though it was not the case of prosecution that deceased suffered death as medical aid was denied to him---Trial Court outrightly rejected or ignored the medical evidence---Trial Court had misunderstood place and value of motive in criminal cases and had declared that motive in a criminal case was of no consequence and its existence and non-existence by itself neither proved nor disproved commission of a crime---Judgment of Trial Court, in circumstances, was set aside and the accused was acquitted of charge, accordingly. PLD 1966 SC 664 rel.Full judgment text for this case is not yet available on Pakistan Law Reports. Check the official Sindh High Court case law portal for the complete order.
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