IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN 
(Appellate Jurisdiction) 
 
 
PRESENT: 
Mr. Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik 
Mr. Justice Sajjad Ali Shah 
Mr. Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed 
 
JAIL PETITIONS NO.10 AND 50 OF 2016 
(Against the Judgment dated 26.10.2015 passed by  
Lahore High Court, Lahore in Cr.A. No.215-J/2010) 
 
Muhammad Shahbaz Ali Khalid 
(in Jail Petition No.10/2016)  
 
Shujat Ali alias Tikka 
(in Jail Petition No.50/2016)  
 
 
 
…Petitioner(s) 
 
 
 
 
 
Versus 
The State 
…Respondent 
 
 
For the petitioner(s): 
Mr. Muhammad Junaid Akhtar, ASC 
 
  
 
For the State: 
Mirza Abid Majeed,  
 
Deputy Prosecutor General, Punjab 
 
     
Date of hearing: 
2.10.2019. 
 
JUDGMENT 
 
 
 
Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, J.- Muhammad 
Shahbaz Ali Khalid and Shujat Ali alias Tikka, while travelling in a 
public vehicle, were intercepted on 3.6.2009 within the precincts of 
Police Station Essakhel, District Mianwali; the former had deceitfully 
clad himself in a veil, however, exposed on search, with a suicide vest 
wrapped around his body; the explosive weighed 15 kilograms;  Shujat 
Ali was found carrying five leads along with detonators and electric 
fuses; upon indictment, they claimed trial, culminating into their 
convictions under Section 4 read with Section 5-A of the Explosive 
Substances Act, 1908 read with Section 7(g) of the Anti Terrorism Act, 
1997; Shahbaz Ali Khalid was additionally convicted under Section 
419 of Pakistan Penal Code for impersonating himself as a female; 
they were sentenced to imprisonment for life with forfeiture of their 
Jail Petitions No.10 and 50/2016 
 
2
properties, Muhammad Shahbaz Ali Khalid with extra tag of three 
years Rigorous Imprisonment on the third count; their appeals met 
with no better fate in the High Court on 26.10.2015 albeit with 
reduction of imprisonment for life imposed upon Shujat Ali alias Tikka 
to ten years R.I.; as per report of Superintendent, High Security 
Prisons, Sahiwal dated 28.9.2019, he has since been released after 
serving out his sentence, however, since his property has been ordered 
to be confiscated, fate of his petition is also being decided alongside 
the present petition.  
2. 
 
Learned counsel for the petitioners has assailed the 
impugned judgment on a variety of grounds; he emphatically stressed 
prosecution’s failures ranging from omissions on vital aspects of the 
case, non-association of independent witnesses admittedly available at 
the spot to an inclusive expert report to conclusively establish lethality 
of the contraband. The learned Law Officer has faithfully defended the 
convictions and sentences consequent thereupon.   
3. 
 
Heard. 
4. 
 
The very genesis of the case is somewhat intriguing, 
inasmuch as, the crime report sans some important details without 
any plausible explanation; registration number of the vehicle wherein 
the petitioners travelled is conspicuously missing, in absence whereof, 
interrupted journey is relegated into a suspect detour. Similarly, crime 
report is also silent on the names of driver and cleaner of a public 
vehicle, if at all, the petitioners were surprised therein. Despite an 
extensive search, police have not been able to retrieve the tickets, a 
surer means within the realm of possibility, to establish petitioners’ 
journey with the contraband. Muhammad Shahbaz Ali Khalid’s 
interception, attired in feminine garments by the male personnel in the 
presence of public without a lady constable, that too, per chance, 
without prior information is a story that may not find a buyer. 
Prosecution’s reliance on the statement of Auliya Khan (PW-3) as an 
expert to establish explosive potential of the contraband is beside the 
mark in the face of admission by the witness that he was not an expert 
in the field and as such hardly in a position to drive home the charge. 
Imprisonment for life is quite a span and an accused cannot be 
deprived of best portion of his life on slipshod, incoherent and suspect 
Jail Petitions No.10 and 50/2016 
 
3
evidence even in cases with heinous contours. In the totality of 
circumstances, prosecution case cannot be viewed as entirely free from 
doubt and, thus, it would be unsafe to maintain the conviction. 
Consequently, these petitions are converted into appeals and allowed; 
the impugned judgment is set aside; the appellants are acquitted from 
the charge. Shahbaz Ali Khalid, appellant shall be released forthwith, 
if not required in any other case.  
 
 
 
Judge 
 
Judge 
 
 
Judge 
Islamabad 
2nd October, 2019 
Not approved for reporting 
Ghulam Raza/-