ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that where a murder is committed in a brutal and heinous manner and no mitigating circumstances exist, the award of capital punishment may be justified.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar and comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, issued the judgment in a triple murder case. The court dismissed an appeal filed by convict-petitioner Muhammad Shafi against the Lahore High Court’s judgment dated June 18, 2025, as well as the murder reference. “The prosecution has successfully established not only the commission of the triple murder but also the injuries inflicted upon the two eyewitnesses, and has further proved the motive through the testimony of the informant,” stated the seven-page judgment authored by Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim.
The court ruled that the conviction recorded against the petitioner-convict was well-founded, based on confidence-inspiring evidence, and required no interference. “In the present case, the cold-blooded murder of three persons and the causing of serious injuries to two eyewitnesses, without any extenuating circumstances, leave no room for leniency,” the judgment observed, adding that the reasons given by the courts for awarding the death sentence were sound, well-reasoned and fully supported by the evidence on record.
“We find no illegality, infirmity or misreading of evidence that would warrant interference with the sentence awarded. Accordingly, this jail petition is dismissed and leave to appeal is refused,” the court ruled.
The bench noted that the manner in which the crime was committed clearly reflected its gravity and brutality. It observed that the petitioner-convict, acting in concert with his co-accused, deceitfully called the deceased one by one to a cattle farm and subjected them to a merciless attack with daggers, resulting in their cold-blooded murder. “The sheer number of injuries inflicted upon the bodies of the deceased, particularly 22 wounds on one of them, namely Zaka Ullah, establishes the extreme brutality,” the judgment stated. The court further observed that when the injured eyewitnesses attempted to intervene, they too were attacked and sustained serious injuries. The entire occurrence, the bench noted, revealed extreme cruelty and a shocking disregard for human life.
The crime was committed in broad daylight at the place where the petitioner-convict, along with his absconding co-accused, was employed and resided with his family. Instead of honouring the trust placed in him, it was abused in the most tragic manner, the judgment added.
Reiterating the legal principle, the court stated that it was well settled that where a murder was committed in a brutal and heinous manner and no mitigating circumstances were available, capital punishment might be justified. According to the prosecution, Shafi mercilessly slaughtered Shafaat Ullah, Zaka Ullah and Attique Ullah with a dagger, while Abdullah and Ihtisham sustained multiple sharp-edged injuries in the incident that took place on January 22, 2020, at about 3pm inside the cattle farm situated in village Pathan Wali.
The trial court, through its judgment dated May 30, 2022, had declared co-accused Muhammad Rafi a proclaimed offender and convicted and sentenced the petitioner under Section 302(b) PPC to death on three counts as Ta’azir, with a direction to pay Rs200,000 as compensation to the legal heirs of each deceased under Section 544-A of the Code, recoverable as arrears of land revenue. In default, he was to undergo six months’ simple imprisonment on each count. Under Section 324 PPC, he had been sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment on two counts and directed to pay Rs50,000 as compensation to each injured witness, Ihtisham and Abdullah, and in default to undergo three months’ simple imprisonment on each count. Under Section 337-A(i) PPC, he was sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment on two counts as Ta’azir and ordered to pay Rs25,000 as Daman to each injured person.
The Lahore High Court had dismissed an appeal of the petitioner-convict and, through its judgment dated June 18, 2025, answered Murder Reference No162 of 2022 in the affirmative, thereby confirming the death sentence awarded by the trial court.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed as withdrawn, the appeal filed by former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly during the PTI government, Qasim Khan Suri.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed heard the appeal filed by Suri against the decision of the Balochistan Election Tribunal.
Qasim Suri resigned from his National Assembly seat on April 16, 2022 — just four days after the approval of the no-confidence motion against prime minister Imran Khan and the election of Mian Shehbaz Sharif as Prime Minister.
