PESHAWAR, Sept 26: In an honour-related murder case, the Peshawar High Court here on Thursday commuted death penalty awarded to a convict to life imprisonment.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Tariq Pervaiz and Justice Qaim Jan Khan observed that under the Qisas and Diyat law, a husband who killed his wife could not be awarded death sentence if he had children from her.

The appellant, Abdul Lateef, aged 45, had killed his wife, Khunza Nisa, on Jan 25, 2000, in Chitral district. The appellant suspected that his wife had illicit relations with one of his relatives, Abdul Samad.

His mother, Adur Bibi, was an eyewitness of the occurrence and she had narrated the scene to the police, following which the appellant was arrested.

His trial was conducted by the district and sessions judge, Chitral, who sentenced him to death on Dec 15, 2001. After his conviction, he filed an appeal before the high court praying that he was innocent.

Advocate Roohul Amin appeared for the appellant and contended that under the Qisas and Diyat law an accused could not be awarded death sentence when any wali (legal heir) of the victim was a direct descendant of the offender.

Mr Amin quoted section 306(c) of the law and stated that Qisas for qatl-i-amd (intentional murder) should not be enforced “when any wali of the victim is a direct descendant, howsoever low, of the offender.”

He added that under section 302(c) of the law, whoever commits qatl-i-amd should be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend up to twenty-five years, where, according to the injunctions of Islam, the punishment of Qisas was not applicable.

The appellant’s counsel contended that as the appellant had three children from the deceased, therefore, under section 306(c), the punishment of Qisas was not applicable. In such circumstances, the death penalty could not be awarded.

He further argued that the act of the appellant was due to a sudden provocation and was not an intentional murder.

On a court’s query, he referred to a judgment of the Supreme Court (SCMR 2001 page 1,775) and argued that the apex court had also ruled that Qisas could not be applied in cases where the wali of a deceased was a descendent of the accused.

He added that the high court had to follow the findings of the Supreme Court.