IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN 
(Appellate Jurisdiction) 
 
PRESENT: 
Mr. Justice Mushir Alam 
Mr. Justice Yahya Afridi 
Mr. Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed 
 
 
 
Criminal Petition Nos.9-Q & 12 of 2021  
(Against the judgment dated 21.12.2020 passed by 
the High Court of Balochistan in Cr. A. No5 & 80 of 
2017)  
 
 
 
Ghulam Abbas 
(in Cr.P.9-Q/2021) 
Naqeebullah 
(in Cr.P.12/2021) 
 
 
 
…Petitioner(s) 
 
 
 
 
 
Versus 
 
 
 
 
 
  
The State  
…Respondent(s) 
 
For the Petitioner(s): 
Mr. Muhammad Ewaz Zehri, ASC 
 
Ch. Akhtar Ali, AOR 
 
Mr. M. Riaz Akhtar Tareen, ASC 
 
 
 
 
 
(in Cr.P.12-Q/2021) 
 
Mr. Tahir Hussain Khan, ASC 
 
 
 
 
 
(in Cr.P.9-Q/2021) 
 
For the State: 
Mr. Walayat Hussain,  
 
Additional Prosecutor General Balochistan 
 
For the Complainant: 
Mr. Kamran Murtaza, Sr.ASC 
 
 
 
 
 
(in both cases) 
 
Date of hearing: 
06.04.2021. 
 
JUDGMENT 
 
 
 
    Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, J.- Ghulam Abbas 
petitioner was tried by a learned Additional Sessions Judge at Quetta for 
committing Qatl-i-Amd of Ameer Muhammad, 35/40, a supervisor 
employed in a restaurant at 6:15 p.m. on 10.8.2013; Naqeebullah 
petitioner, one of the owners of the outlet, was also in the dock for having 
screened off incriminatory evidence; they were returned a guilty verdict 
vide judgment dated 17.03.2017; the former convicted under clause (b) of 
section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 was sentenced to 
imprisonment for life with a direction to pay compensation whereas the 
latter was convicted under section 201 of the Code ibid; he was sentenced 
to 5-years R.I. The incident occurred all of a sudden in the wake of an 
altercation that started over a demand of drink by the principal accused. 
Criminal Petition Nos.9-Q & 12 of 2021  
2
The High Court of Balochistan maintained convictions as well as 
sentences recorded thereunder vide impugned judgment 21.12.2020, 
being assailed through separate petitions. Bound by a common thread, 
these are being decided through this single judgment.  
2. 
 
According to the prosecution, the deceased served at the food 
outlet while Ghulam Abbas associated as a guard with Naqeebullah 
petitioner. On the fateful day, Ghulam Abbas asked the deceased for a 
drink who demanded a chit to oblige; former, however, got infuriated and 
shot him in the abdomen; he was subdued by the witnesses at the spot 
with the weapon, latter taken by Naqeebullah petitioner, who withheld it 
throughout. Ocular account furnished by Muhammad Awais (PW-1) and 
Muhammad Afzal (PW-2), with an inspiring unanimity, narrated the 
graphic details of the episode; they faced embarrassingly lengthy cross-
examination without any setback. Red-handed arrest at the spot 
foreclosed all avenues to entertain any hypothesis other than assassin’s 
guilt. Naqeebullah, however, attempted hard to wriggle out of the charge 
by taking plea of having extended assistance to the deceased in his 
gasping moments; according to him, he not only laid information with the 
police but also shifted the deceased to the hospital in a bid to save his life; 
he pleaded ignorance about the disappearance of weapon, held by the  
co-accused. Both the accused appeared as witnesses in disproof of the 
charge, an attempt that failed to disturb preponderance of prosecution.  
3. 
 
Appraisal of evidence by the courts below, upon our own 
independent analysis, has been found by us inconsonance with the 
principles of safe administration of criminal justice. It is a broad daylight 
affair wherein Ghulam Abbas was apprehended at the spot; he was 
employed by Naqeebullah as a guard, who had obviously provided him the 
weapon that he used most unwisely, without provocation upon a hapless 
worker, earning livelihood for his family; he has already been dealt with 
leniency. Criminal Petition No.9-Q of 2021 fails. Leave declined.  
 
Assistance provided to the deceased in his injured condition by 
Naqeebullah petitioner does not absolve him from his responsibility to 
assist the law, however,  at the most can be viewed as a mitigation to 
settle quantum of the sentence which having regard to the totality of 
circumstances is reduced from 5-years to 3-years R.I, pre-trial period 
inclusive. Fine imposed by the Courts below in the sum of Rs.50,000/- is 
converted into compensation, to be paid to the legal heirs of the deceased; 
default shall follow simple imprisonment for six months. With the above 
Criminal Petition Nos.9-Q & 12 of 2021  
3
modification, Criminal Petition No.12  of 2021 is converted into appeal 
and partly allowed in the above terms.  
 
 
Judge 
 
 
 
Judge 
 
 
 
Judge 
Islamabad, the 
6th April, 2021 
Not approved for reporting 
Azmat/-