Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty...

Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty can be awarded to a defendant in a murder case even when the fatal shot is not attributed to him.
The SC ruling said that when the prosecution proves its case in an offence of murder and the role of two or more accused is identical, then there is no justification to award lesser punishment in absence of any mitigating circumstances.
The SC bench comprising Chief Justice, Sheikh Riaz Ahmad, Justice Mian Mohammad Ajmal and Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi upheld a high court order upgrading the punishment of a defendant from life imprisonment to the death penalty.
It ruled that when the guilt of several accused persons concerned in a murder crime is proved to be equal and undistinguishable, it would be wholly illogical to pick just one person out of the lot to pay by his life for the murder of the deceased and to spare the others.
The court did not concur with the argument proposed by the appellant's counsel that where the fatal shot was not attributed to a specific defendant, the death penalty could not be given. It was considering a Lahore High Court ruling upgrading a life term given to Mohammad Bahadar to the death penalty. Bahadar had been convicted of the murder of Azizullah in the premises of the Khushab District Court.
The trial court had given life imprisonment to Bahadar, Khuda Dad and Sher Mohammad, who had been accused of firing simultaneously on the deceased. On appeal, the Lahore High Court had acquitted one defendant but altered the punishment of another to death.