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 Appeal No.154-L of 2017  
(On appeal from the judgment dated 
10.2.2015 passed by the Lahore High 
Court, 
Lahore 
in 
Criminal 
Appeal 
No.463/2010 and CSR No.26-T/2010) 
 
Muhammad Yaqoob 
 
…Appellant(s) 
 
VERSUS 
The State   
 
…Respondent(s) 
 
 
For the Appellant(s) 
: Mr. Saqib Akram Gondal, ASC 
 
 
 
For the State 
: Ch. M. Mustafa,  
Deputy Prosecutor General  
 
 
 
Date of Hearing 
: 30.05.2019 
 
JUDGMENT 
 
 
Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, J.-  Gohar Zaman, 
Muhammad Afzal, Muhammad Ashraf, Babar, Zulfiqar Ali, Shiraz 
Ahmed, Asad Abbas, Muhammad Suleman, Muhammad Bashir, 
Arshad Bhatti, Haji Mushtaq and Muhammad Amjad, accused in a 
case of homicide, appeared before a learned Additional Sessions 
Judge within the precincts of  District Courts, Gujrawnwala on  
11-7-2009; posted for recording of evidence, the case was, 
however, adjourned for 17-7-2009 and it was soon thereafter, 
inside the court-room, the appellant alongside Muhammad 
Mushtaq, Haji Muhammad Siddique, Qaisar Munir with two 
unknown persons, differently armed, emerged at the scene; they 
resorted to firing; the appellant, cited as a witness in the said case, 
with a .30 caliber pistol, fired upon Gohar Zaman and Arshad 
Bhatti followed by Muhammad Siddique who targeted Muhammad 
Ashraf, PW-14 while Muhammad Mushtaq and Qaisar Munir fired 
upon Muhammad Bashir, given up PW, and Muhammad Afzal, 
PW-12, respectively; they were joined by the unknown assailants; 
according to the crime report, lodged by Zeeshan  Ilyas, PW-13, 
one Gogi was also shot during the occurrence. The assailants took 
Criminal Appeal No.154-L of 2017  
 
 
 
 
 
 
2 
 
to the heels except the appellant, apprehended at the spot and 
handed over to the police with two .30 caliber pistols, one found 
forensically wedded with three casings, secured during spot 
inspection. As the investigation progressed, Qaiser Munir and Haji 
Muhammad 
Siddique 
were 
let 
off; 
Muhammad 
Mushtaq,  
co-accused is still away from law. Prosecution is clueless about the 
unknown accused till date. The appellant alone was indicted before 
an Anti Terrorism Court; he was returned a guilty verdict with 
penalty of death on two counts, upheld by a learned Division 
Bench of Lahore High Court vide impugned judgment dated 
10.02.2015 vires whereof are being assailed through leave of the 
Court. 
2. 
 
Prosecution case, predominantly, is founded on 
common grounds; these include, enmity long raging between the 
two factions, hearing of the case, appearance of the deceased and 
the appellant being amongst the witnesses, on the fateful day, at 
the venue, a court-room as well as appellant’s arrest therefrom.  
Though with some reticence, nonetheless, the appellant has not 
denied his presence during the episode albeit with the story of a 
most uncalled for provocation offered by the deceased. Three 
casings 
secured 
by 
the 
Investigating 
Officer 
though 
incommensurate 
with 
the 
number 
of 
alleged 
fire 
shots, 
nonetheless, were opined to have been fired from the weapon 
carried by the appellant. Totality of circumstances does not space 
any hypothesis other than appellant’s guilt; he has rightly been 
convicted on the charge of homicide, however, quantum of 
sentence, notwithstanding the venue, warrants reconsideration.  
It is prosecution’s own case that the appellant attended the Court 
to record his statement as a witness; the case was adjourned 
without recording of evidence and it is subsequent thereto that as 
many as six accused started firing upon the deceased and the 
PWs; two from amongst them have since been exonerated, never 
tried even through private complaint; Muhammad Mushtaq 
alongwith two unknown accomplices is still away from law; 
appellant’s acquittal from the charge of attempted homicide has 
not been challenged. Appellant himself sustained injuries receipt 
whereof 
is 
denied 
by 
the 
prosecution 
witnesses. 
These 
circumstances 
cloud 
moments 
immediately 
preceding 
the 
Criminal Appeal No.154-L of 2017  
 
 
 
 
 
 
3 
 
occurrence 
into 
mystery, 
particularly 
when 
in 
the 
given 
background, the appellant had no exclusive motive, targeted upon 
the deceased. In this backdrop, as a cumulative impact, alteration 
of death penalty into imprisonment for life would not be 
unconscionable in circumstances. Consequently, penalty of death 
on both counts is altered into imprisonment for life; sentences 
shall run concurrently with benefit of Section 382-B of the Code of 
Criminal Procedure, 1898. Though the aftermaths far from being 
benign, nonetheless, having no nexus with the situations and 
effects thereof, contemplated by Section 6 of the Anti Terrorism 
Act, 1997, appellant’s conviction under section 7(a) thereof is not 
inconsonance with the law declared by this Court in the cases 
reported as Amjad Ali and others Vs. The State (PLD 2017 SC 661) 
and Farooq Ahmad Vs. The State and another (PLJ 2017 SC 408) 
and is, therefore, set aside. With the above modification, Criminal 
Appeal is dismissed. 
 
 
 
 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
 
 
Lahore, the 
30th of May, 2019 
Azmat Ali/* 
JUDGE 
 
