ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Supreme Court has decided to constitute a larger bench to hear the matter of the rising trend of misuse of compromise laws as well as Islamic injunctions by pardoning convicts of heinous crimes in the name of God, or ‘Fisabilillah’.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, announced this on Thursday during the hearing of a similar appeal involving the Islamic Qisas and Diyat laws according to which victims can strike an out-of-court deal with those convicted of murder.
During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that these laws should only be applicable after careful consideration. He said it would not be right to misuse them as tools for personal gains.
The chief justice said that legitimate use of these laws should be permitted when it comes to pardoning (in the name of Allah) those convicted in murder cases, adding that the matter could not be resolved by merely accepting valuable property and/or money.
The chief justice furthermore said there was provision of pardoning killers in the name of Allah in Islam, so that there would be fewer conflicts in society. He said the golden principles of Islam were not being followed due to which conflicts were multiplying.
The chief justice said Quranic verses could be used to resolve conflicts, but not for furthering people’s own agendas.
Another member on the bench, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, said the state could impose punishment even if family members of the deceased had decided to forgive those convicted of murder.
The bench had taken up appeals of Mohammad Azam and Sikander Hayat who were convicted for killing one Mohammad Arif in tehsil Phalia of Mandi Bahauddin district in 2004.
A trial court had awarded death sentence to Azam in 2006 and life imprisonment to Hayat in 2011. But the Lahore High Court had last year converted the death sentence of Azam into life term and retained the sentence of Hayat.
The two convicts approached the Supreme Court on Sept 6 this year and during the hearing, the court was informed that a compromise had been struck between Azam and members of the victim’s family who stated on oath that they had pardoned the accused in the name of God.
Under the compromise, two widows of the deceased waived the right of “Diyat” (blood money) in consideration of two and half kanals of a joint land in the name of their minor children — Tanveer Fatima, Ghulam Dastagir and Ghulam Arfeen.
The three-judge SC bench had already indicated during the last hearing of the case on Sept 13 that it may issue a judgment against the increased misuse of the Islamic laws of Qisas and Diyat.
The court decided during proceedings today to constitute a five-member bench and subsequently adjourned the matter to October 16.