IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN 
(Appellate Jurisdiction) 
 
 
PRESENT:  
Mr. Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik 
Mr. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah 
Mr. Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed 
 
Criminal Appeals No.298 & 299-L/2017 
(Against the judgment dated 26.11.2014 passed by the 
Lahore 
High 
Court, 
Lahore 
in 
Criminal 
Appeals 
No.1985/2011 & 2098/2011 and C.S.Rs. No45-T/2011) 
 
Tariq Ali Shah  
(in Criminal Appeal No.298-L/2017) 
Ahad Shah 
(in Criminal Appeal No.299-L/2017) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
…Appellant(s) 
 
VERSUS 
The State etc. 
 (in Criminal Appeal No.298-L/2017) 
The State through P.G. Punjab 
(in Criminal Appeal No.299-L/2017) 
 
   
 
 
 
 
…Respondent(s) 
 
 
For the Appellant(s): 
 
Mr. Abid Saqi, ASC 
(in Criminal Appeal No.298-L/2017) 
 
 
 
Mr. Naveed Ahmed Kh., ASC 
 (in Criminal Appeal No.299-L/2017) 
 
For the State: 
 
For respondent No.2:                   
 
Ch. Muhammad Mustafa, DPG 
 
Mr. Naveed Ahmad Kh., ASC 
 
 
 (in Criminal Appeal No.298-L/2017) 
 
Date of Hearing: 
 
24.6.2019. 
 
JUDGMENT 
 
 
Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, J.- Through leave of 
the Court, impugned herein is High Court's judgment dated 
26.11.2014 whereby conviction of Ahad Shah, appellant, returned 
by the trial Court was upheld with modification of death penalty 
into imprisonment for life; he was indicted alongside Shahbaz Ali, 
Adal Shah, Sattar Shah and Mst. Kousar alias pathano for 
committing qatl-e-amd of Saqib Shah within the precincts of office 
of Superintendent of Police, Laylpur Town, Faisalabad at 3.45 p.m. 
on 2.5.2011. On the fateful day, investigation in a criminal case 
brought both the factions face-to-face at the venue; from amongst 
the array of accused, Adal Shah and Sattar Shah, blamed for 
abetment, were acquitted by the trial Court whereas Mst. Kousar 
Criminal Appeals No.298 & 299-L/2017 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2 
 
alias Pathano has been let off by the High Court; Shahbaz Ali, co-
accused slipped away before announcement of the judgment.  
 
In the backdrop of a longstanding enmity, on the fateful day, 
the appellant, armed with a .30 caliber pistol, targeted the 
deceased with multiple fire shots; apprehended at the spot 
alongside the weapon, wedded with six casings secured from the 
spot, he was tried by an Anti-Terrorism Court, to receive a guilty 
verdict.  
2.   
Arch rivalry with string of criminal cases between the two 
sides is a common ground; appellant's arrest with the weapon shortly 
after the occurrence statedly from the precincts of office of 
Superintendent of Police are circumstances, at first sight, pointed 
inexorably towards his culpability, however, on a closer scrutiny of 
prosecution's case, a number of factors san plausible explanations; 
his arrest from the office of Superintendent of Police does not find 
mention in the crime report; prosecution's claim that  Nazakat Ali, SI, 
PW-9 arrested the appellant from first floor of the office has to be 
taken with a pinch of salt; according to his narrative, he first went to 
Allied Hospital, Faisalabad to draw up preliminary proceedings, a 
process essentially time intensive, and thereafter upon his return 
apprehended the appellant at the spot with weapon. It is mind 
boggling as to why in the heavily guarded premises no one else 
attempted to arrest the appellant; mute response in a heightened 
situation is somewhat intriguing; genesis of the script is inherently 
suspect. Acquittal of Mst. Kousar alias Pathano by the High Court is 
yet another devastating blow to the prosecution; she is a lady 
constable, indicted for being privy to the crime; it is alleged that clad 
in a sheet, she took aside the appellant shortly before the incident; 
logistical support is suggested though with reticence; her acquittal 
tremors down the very foundation of the case. No less intriguing is 
belated autopsy conducted the following day i.e. 3.5.2011 at 9.40 
a.m.  The deceased was shifted dead in the mortuary on 2.5.2011 
where complaint was recorded at 4.20 p.m.; Allied Hospital, 
Faisalabad is a tertiary hospital; holding in abeyance of postmortem 
examination for such a long period is mind boggling to say the least; 
it 
reasonably 
spaces 
the 
hypothesis 
of 
consultations 
and 
deliberations. Findings recorded by the medial officer further add to 
the prosecution's predicament; use of a .30 caliber pistol is 
Criminal Appeals No.298 & 299-L/2017 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3 
 
unequivocally alleged as the only weapon employed by the appellant, 
however, according to the autopsy report, the medical officer noted "A 
complex of 22 firearms wounds of entries of different shape and sizes 
(2 mm x 2 mm to 1 cm x 1 cm) in an area of 23 cm x 7 cm on lower 
chest and abdomen. Left part". The High Court itself viewed the above 
injury with suspicion for being incompatible/inconsistent with the 
weapon, seized with appellant's arrest. It casts away the hypothesis 
of appellant's arrest soon after the occurrence alongside the weapon 
of offence. Witnesses do not appear to have come forward with the 
whole truth and given the formidable past hounding both sides, 
patent discrepancies cannot be viewed as trivial, particularly after 
prosecution's failure qua three of the co-accused albeit with 
somewhat different roles. It would be unsafe to maintain the 
conviction. Criminal Appeal No. 299-L/2017 is allowed; impugned 
judgment is set aside; the appellant is acquitted from the charge and 
shall be released forthwith, if not required in any other case. As a 
natural corollary, Criminal Appeal No.298-L/2017 is dismissed.  
 
 
 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
 
 
Lahore, the 
24th of June, 2019 
Not approved for reporting 
Ghulam Raza/* 
JUDGE