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CHAPTER 4
TRIAL OF RIOT CASES
1. Careful handling required.-- Riots resulting in serious injuries or even
death are of frequent occurrence in this Province, and cases relating to such riots
require very careful handling. A large number of persons is generally involved and the
evidence is often entirely of a partisan character. There is, moreover, great danger of
innocent persons being implicated along with the guilty, owing to the tendency of the
parties in such cases to try to implicate falsely as many of their enemies as they can.
2. Court's duty to ascertain the true version.-- The parties generally give
widely divergent versions of the riot and in such cases the Police usually prosecute
members of both the parties and place the divergent versions and the evidence in support
thereof before the Court. It is for the Court to ascertain in such cases which of the two
versions is correct and the Court cannot shirk this duty on the ground that the Police did
not ascertain which of the stories was true. ***[...]
3. Right of self-defence.-- When both parties deliberately engage in a fight no
question of the right of self-defence arises. But, otherwise, the question as to which of
the parties was the aggressor and which was acting in self-defence becomes of vital
importance and the Court must do its best to arrive at a finding thereon for the party
acting in self-defence cannot be held to be guilty of any offence unless the right of
private defence is exceeded (see sections 96-106, Pakistan Penal Code.)
*
[4. Separate trials when both parties are prosecuted.- When both
parties to a riot are prosecuted, the two cases must be tried separately and evidence in
one case cannot be treated as evidence in the other, even with the consent of the parties.
Similarly judgements in such cases should be written separately and the evidence in the
one case should not be imported into the judgment in the other. Even when the Court is
careful enough not to mix up the evidence, the mere fact of its having written one
judgment furnishes the convicts with a ground of appeal.]
5. Case of each accused should be separately sifted.-- In recording evidence in
riot cases, care should be taken to bring out distinctly as far as possible the connection
of each of the accused with the crime and the actual part played by him. In the judgment
the evidence against each of the accused should be discussed separately along with the
evidence produced by him in defence (if any), and should be scrutinised with care. The
possibility of innocent persons being falsely implicated should be always borne in mind.
The mention or omission of the name of an accused person in the First Information Report,
when such report is made promptly by an eye-witness, and the presence or absence of
injuries on his person are worthy of consideration in this respect, though these are, of
course, by no means conclusive.
6. An unlawful assembly, its common object and use of violence must be proved.-- A
charge of rioting presupposes the existence of an unlawful assembly with a common object
as defined in section 141 of the Pakistan Penal Code. No charge of rioting can be
sustained against any person unless it is proved that he was a member of such an unlawful
assembly, and that one or more members of the assembly used force or violence in
prosecution of its common object. It is, therefore, advisable to refer to the unlawful
assembly, its common object, and the use of violence in the charge, so that the essential
ingredients of the offence are not lost sight of. ***[...]
*
[7. Joint liability of accused.- Section 149 of the Pakistan Penal
Code, makes every member of an unlawful assembly constructively liable for offences
committed by other members in prosecution of the common object of the assembly. If the
number of offenders is ultimately found to be less than five, this section will not be
applicable, but joint liability may still arise by virtue of section 34 of the said Code,
if it is found that the act constituting the offence was committed in `furtherance of the
common intention of all'. When no joint liability can be established, each accused person
can be held responsible for his own acts. (See 61 PR 1887, 52 ILR Cal. 197).
8. Sentences when several offences are committed.- When a number of offences are
committed by members of an unlawful assembly in the course of the riot in prosecution of
their common object, each member is guilty not only of rioting but of every other offence
committed by himself or by the other members of the unlawful assembly. Under section 35 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure he is liable to be punished separately for each of such
offences, subject to the provisions of section 71 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Section 35
of the Criminal Procedure code enables the Court to make the sentences for two or more of
such offences concurrent. The appropriate sentence in the case of each accused person
must, of course, be determined in view of all the circumstances of the crime and the
actual part played by him. (See 4 PR 1901).]
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