PAKISTAN: SC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE

a three-member bench of the Supreme Court in Pakistan, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, commuted the death sentence of a murder convict to life imprisonment. Counsel for Arshad, serving a death sentence for murdering one Ghulam Hussain at Ghulam Muhammadabad in Faisalabad with a dagger after a brawl, appeared before the apex court and prayed that the appellant committed the crime when he was only 16 years of age and, therefore, his case should be treated on the basis of the system for juvenile offences. After hearing the arguments, the bench granted his appeal by converting his sentence under Section 302-A to 302-B into jail for life on the basis that he was minor at the time of occurrence of the crime. The convict would have to pay an amount of Rs 100,000 to the heirs of the deceased.