PESHAWAR, June 4: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday set aside death penalty awarded to a juvenile offender by a court in a double murder case and ruled that a juvenile could not be awarded capital punishment.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice Ijaz Afzal, converted the death sentence of the appellant, Mohammad Zaman, into five-year imprisonment with payment of Diyat money to the heirs of the deceased.

The appellant was charged with his two relatives of killing his  uncle Sarfaraz, and his son, Faqir Hussain, over a property dispute on March 23, 1995, in Choora area in Mardan. The other two accused have been absconding.

The appellant was sentenced to death by an additional district and sessions judge in Mardan on Nov 12, 2002. The complainant in the case was Ms Amina, wife of the Faqir Hussain.

Advocate Khwaja Mohammad Khan of Gara appeared for the appellant and argued that the evidence on record proved that he was 17 years old at the time of the commission of the offence. He contended that under the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000, death penalty could not be awarded to a juvenile offender.

Mr Khan argued that under the Qisas and Diyat law capital punishment could not be slapped on a minor. He referred to Section 306 of the law and stated that an intentional murder was not liable to Qisas when the offender was a minor. He cited various judgments of the superior courts in support of his contention.