A model court has convicted a man of manslaughter over the death of a teenage boy due to firing at a mehndi function in Karachi’s Lyari area and ordered him to pay Rs6.7 million in diyat.
Additional Sessions Judge Irshad Hussain of the Model Criminal Trial Court (South) found accused Hasnain, alias Babul, guilty of causing fatal firearm injury to Rashid Ali within the jurisdiction of the Chakiwara police station in August, 2023.
The court ordered the convict to pay the diyat amount of Rs67,57,902 to the legal heirs of the deceased for committing the offence punishable under the Section 322 (punishment for qatl-bis-sabab) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
“At the relevant time of alleged offence i.e. financial year 2023–2024, the value of Diyat notified by the Federal Government under Section 323 PPC was Rs.6,757,902, being equivalent to 30,630 grams of silver,” the judge noted.
He ordered that the accused would stay in prison until payment of the diyat. The judge observed that the case did not neatly fall within Qatl-e-Amd (intentional murder). “It [is] admitted fact that according to section 300 PPC intention to cause death, or intention to cause such bodily injury likely to cause death is required whereas here in this case according to the eyewitnesses the accused was offloading or unloading and playing with chamber of his pistol in a state of intoxication at the function of Mehndi and admittedly according to the witnesses there was no prior enmity or targeting shown so here in this case direct intention to kill the deceased is missing,” he added.
“According to section 318 PPC Qatle-e-Khata occurs when death is caused without intention, and without knowledge that the act is likely to cause death. Here in this case I am of the view that it is not a case of Qatl-e-Khata because handling a firearm (even casually) carries knowledge of risk. A reasonable person knows that negligent handling of a loaded pistol can cause death. According to section 321 PPC Qatl-bis-Sabab applies where death is caused without intention to kill, but due to rash or negligent act.”
The judge said that in this case, the accused was handling a pistol in a gathering of friends gathered there due to the function of Mehndi and according to one witness, he was intoxicated. “Therefore careless act of accused of checking/unloading or offloading chamber of weapon led to firing and resulted the death of deceased and such act of accused clearly indicates rashness and negligence, not intention therefore I am of the view that that it is not a case of Qatle Ammad or Qatl-e-Khata but it is a case of Qatl-bis-Sabab punishable under section 322 PPC,” he added. Separately, the court sentenced the accused to three-year-imprisonment with Rs50,000 fine over possession of an unlicensed weapon.
