The Supreme Court of Pakistan has laid down an important legal principle, ruling that where a murder occurs in a state of sudden provocation without evidence of longstanding enmity, prior planning or a proven motive, the offence may fall under Section 302(c) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) rather than Section 302(b).
Sudden provocation without premeditation may fall under section 302(c), not 302(b): SC
ISLAMABAD, Jul 30 (APP):The Supreme Court of Pakistan has laid down an important legal principle, ruling that where a murder occurs in a state of sudden provocation without evidence of longstanding enmity, prior planning or a proven motive, the offence may fall under Section 302(c) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) rather than Section 302(b).
The court converted the life sentence of juvenile convict Muhammad Nasir Hussain into 14 years’ imprisonment and partly allowed his jail petition after treating it as an appeal.
In a judgment authored by Justice Malik Shehzad Ahmad Khan, the court noted that according to the prosecution, the incident occurred in Mian Channu in 2018 during a domestic dispute in which the accused fatally stabbed Zahoor Ahmad with two knife blows.
The trial court had convicted the accused under Section 302(b) PPC and sentenced him to life imprisonment along with payment of Rs200,000 as compensation, while the Lahore High Court had upheld the conviction and sentence.
The Supreme Court observed that although eyewitness testimony and medical evidence established that the accused had inflicted the fatal injuries, the record also showed that there was no previous enmity between the parties, the motive alleged by the prosecution had not been proved, and the occurrence took place during a sudden escalation of tension.
The court further observed that the accused, who was a minor at the time, became severely and suddenly provoked after witnessing a quarrel between his mother and the deceased, lost self-control and committed the act in the heat of the moment. Therefore, the case did not constitute the category of intentional murder punishable under Section 302(b) PPC.
The judgment held that the case squarely fell within the parameters of Section 302(c) PPC. Consequently, the court set aside the sentence of life imprisonment and awarded the accused 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment.
The Supreme Court, however, maintained the compensation of Rs200,000, the additional sentence in case of non-payment, and the benefit of Section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
