Islamabad: The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its judgment on an appeal filed by convict Nadeem Khan, involving important legal questions regarding the determination of diyat (blood money) in a murder case.
The court observed that the relevant legal principles governing the determination of the amount of diyat needed to be clarified.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar heard the case. During the proceedings, Justice Hashim Kakar asked whether the amount of diyat should be determined according to its value at the time of the offence, the arrest of the accused, or the time of conviction.
Counsel for the convict submitted that Nadeem Khan had already completed his term of imprisonment and was now remaining in custody solely because he had been unable to pay the diyat.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prosecutor Arshad Hussain told the court that it was the first case of its kind, while a High Court judgment regarding determination of the diyat amount was also available. He said the diyat amount at present was over Rs19 million.
Justice Hashim Kakar observed that there were essentially three questions in the case that required determination. The prosecutor submitted that the age of an accused was determined with reference to the time of arrest, and similarly, the relevant point in time for determining diyat should also be established in accordance with legal principles.
Justice Salahuddin Panhwar remarked that if committing murder became more costly, perhaps people would be deterred from committing the offence. He noted that 100 camels were still given as diyat in Saudi Arabia.
Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim observed that failure to decide cases in a timely manner was a flaw in the system and an accused could not be punished for such a systemic failure.
The court directed all relevant prosecutors to submit written arguments on the determination of the diyat amount and reserved its judgment on Nadeem Khan’s appeal.
