CRIME ARTICLES

[Delay in Recovery, Sending, Examination Etc.]
Undue delay in sending crime empties and crime weapons to ballistics expert as well as absence of evidence to show that crimes weapons and empties were made into sealed parcels at the spot; held, it was unsafe to place reliance on such evidence of recovery. (DB) PLD 1963 Kar. 891 Bacho etc.
Delay in sending crime empty to ballistics expert makes the recovery of crime weapon doubtful. Crime empties and crime weapons should not remain in the malkhana. (DB) PLJ 1976 Pesh. 70 Sher Ahmad.
Bullet lead sent to the expert after the recovery of crime weapon, the opinion of fire-arms expert matching the lead with crime weapon not relied upon. (DB) 1977 P.Cr.LJ 603 (605), Mumtaz.
Crime empties and guns sent together to forensic laboratory. Substitution of empties not ruled out. Report not relied upon. (DB) PLJ 1982 Cr.C. Lah. 295. Muhammad Hussain. (DB) PLJ 1988 Cr.C. (Lah.) 296 Muhammad Yaqub.
Crime empties and crime weapons sent together to fire-arms expert after keeping the empties and weapons together in police station for over 2 months, held, the report of the fire-arms expert did not advance the prosecution case. 1992 SCMR 196, Daniel Boyd etc.
Revolver and crime empty sent together to laboratory for examination, held, its incriminatory value is destroyed. PLJ 1992 SC 149. Muhammad Younas Khan.
Empties of the rifle recovered did not match with it, leave to appeal granted to re-appraise the evidence. 1996 SCMR 506, Muhammad Ashraf etc.
Crime empty and gun although recovered separately on different dates yet, sent together to the expert. Such expert evidence, held, doubtful and not relied on. (DB) 1973 P.Cr.LJ 896 Bekho.
Crime empty sent to forensic expert after the recovery of weapon of offence. Recovery is of no value. (DB) PLD 1968 Lah. 869 Muhammad Shafi PLJ 1987 Cr.C. (Lah.) 457. Bashir Ahmad = PLD 1987 Lah. 505.
Possibility of tampering with crime empties and pistol are not ruled out when they are retained unnecessarily for a long period. (DB) PLJ 1975 Cr.C. (BJ) 333. Shah Sarwar etc.
Crime empty and crime gun parcels remained with police for 5 days and crime empty sent to laboratory after 15 days of recovery of gun. Held, matching of empty with the gun appear to be fabricated. (DB) PLD 1988 Lah. 671 Muhammad Javed etc.
Empties and gun not sent to forensic laboratory for matching. Firing of crime weapons held not proved. (DB) 1976 P.Cr.LJ 17 Raham Ali.
Delay of 12 hours in taking dead body to hospital for post-mortem examination and FIR being recorded at the spot, show that the prosecution wanted to build up a case. Circumstances enough to reject whole prosecution case. (DB) 1971 P.Cr.LJ 1181 Muhammad Ali.
15 days' delay in sending blood-stained crime articles to chemical examiner made the case doubtful. (DB) PLJ 1975 Cr.C. (BJ) 44 Khandoo etc.
24 days' delay in sending crime hatchet and other articles for chemical examination without explanation for delay raises grave suspicion about the genuineness of investigation. Benefit of doubt goes to the accused. (FB) 1971 P.Cr.LJ 1089 Ghaus Muhammad.
Crime articles sent after inordinate delay to the forensic science laboratory and no explanation for the delay coming forth. Recoveries not believed 1982 SCMR 49. Ghazi etc.
One month's delay in sending blood-stained weapons, after recovery, to chemical examiner. Delay rendered recoveries useless. (DB) 1976 P.Cr.LJ 49 Gulzar etc. 1978 P.Cr.LJ 57 Muhammad Hafeez etc.
Delay of 2 months in sending crime weapon to ballistics expert. Testimony accepted in view of difficulties of transport and long distance involved. (DB) PLD 1972 Kar. 77 Usman Shah.
Blood-stained hatchet sent to serologist after 2 months of recovery. Recovery proved on record. Weapon after recovery was sealed. No suggestion that the seal was tampered with. Held, recovery proved. (SC) 1982 PSC 370 Mian Khan. PLJ 1982 SC 480.
Blood-stained articles sent after 2 months and effort made to ascertain blood group whether of deceased. Such recoveries not relied on. (DB) PLJ 1982 Cr.C. (Kar.) 201 Dost Muhammad.
Blood-stained knife examined after several months. Held, delay by itself does not deprived the recovery of blood stained knife of its corroborative value. (SC) NLR 1985 Cr. 766. Muhammad Iqbal v. Muhammad Tahir etc.
Crime empties to be despatched immediately to Arms Expert and should not be kept by I.O. because in that case objection regarding manipulation of recoveries will hold good. PLD 1990 Pesh. 10 Atta Ullah etc.
Delay in sending crime empties casts doubt when the crime empties are not sent to the Arms Expert till the recovery of the connected weapon. (SC) PLD 1977 SC 557. Roshan etc.
Incriminating gun and empties remaining in continuous possession of the I.O. after recovery. Possibility of fabrication of empties cannot be ruled out. Report of ballistics expert not relied upon. (DB) NLR 1989 Cr. 545 Farooq Khan.
Crime empty sent to Laboratory after recovery of fire-arms does not cast suspicion of fabrication when no such suggestion is put to the Investigating Officer. (DB) NLR 1989 Cr. 224 Waqar Zaheer etc.
Nothing turns on delay in sending crime empties and gun in absence of any feature in evidence to show planting of empties or gun. 1977 SCMR 330. Allah Rakhio.
Delay in sending crime articles to chemical examiner is not always destructive of evidentiary value of such material. 1980 SCMR 649. Anwar-ul-Hassan.
Delay in sending parcels to Chemical Examiner had raised a doubt about the recovery of any narcotics from the possession of the accused. PLD 1994 FSC 37, Wasal Khan.
Delay simplister in despatching parcels to ballistics expert cannot nullify the evidentiary value in absence of attending circumstances casting doubt on the genuineness of recovery. 1992 SCMR 793, Rab Rakhio etc.
Mere delay in sending crime articles to forensic laboratory is no ground for rejecting their value. PLJ 1987 SC 624. Sarwar etc.
Hatchet sent to Chemical Examiner 21 days after its recovery. No explanation for delay. Recovery held, doubtful. (DB) NLR 1985 Cr. 562. Abdul Rehman etc.
Delay of 2 months in sending pistol and empty to forensic expert. Delay not explained by I.O. Recovery not relied upon. (D.B) PLJ 1996 Cr.C. (Pesh) 1768, Ilam Jan.
70 days' delay in sending crime gun and empty to ballistics expert. Investigating Officer not questioned in cross-examination regarding any suspicious features resulting from such delay and no doubtful features brought on the record. In such a case, delay by itself does not lead to an adverse inference. (DB) 1970 P.Cr.LJ 546 Wazir.
4 months' delay: It would be unsafe to base conviction on the evidence of ballistics expert. "When the evidence of eye-witnesses was rightly discarded by the trial Court for cogent reasons and there was no reason as to why the parcels (containing crime weapons and empties) were detained for such a long time." (SC) 1969 SCMR 714 = 1969 P.Cr.LJ 1484 Allahando. (DB) 1972 P.Cr.LJ 820 Kalandar Bux.
Crime weapon sent 6 months after recovery to ballistics expert, held, no reliance can be placed on the report of the ballistics expert. PLJ 1988 Cr.C. (Kar.) 48. Ismail.
Delay of 16 months in sending blood-stained knife to Chemical Examiner did not affect corroborative value of the knife recovery when authenticity of recovery not challenged nor tampering with knife suggested. PLD 1985 SC 361. Muhammad Iqbal v. Muhammad Tahir etc.
Delay immaterial: Delay in sending crime weapons to chemical examiner is of no effect when accused is apprehended on the spot with blood-stained knives. (DB) 1974 P.Cr.LJ 107 Sharaf-ud-din.
Delay in examination of crime weapons: Gun allegedly used in the commission of crime examined by the ballistics expert 17 months after the incident. Such inordinate delay militates against the acceptance of evidence of ballistics expert. (DB) 1976 P.Cr.LJ 234 Sarong.
Recovery of empty cannot be relied upon when it is neither mentioned in FIR nor in the inquest report. (DB) 1989 Cr. 471 Hameed Akhtar etc.
Crime empties not mentioned in inquest report but recovery mentioned in police diary on the same day, held, crime empties proved to have been found at the spot near the dead body. Omission to fill in column 23 of the inquest report does not violate the spirit of Sec. 174 of Cr.P.C. or rule 25.35 of Police rules about the inquest report. (DB) PLD 1977 Lah. 136 Muhammad Zamurrad etc. (SC) PLJ 1978 SC 270 Allah Bakhsh etc. PLD 1978 SC 171.
Recovery of crime empty doubtful. FIR and inquest report silent about presence of crime empties at the spot. Single shop fired from country made pistol. No reloading mentioned. Presence of crime empty at spot held, doubtful, (DB) PLD 1989 Cr. C. (Lah.) 48 Adalat Hussain.
Crime empties: not mentioned in FIR or in inquest report. Recovery witnesses not independent. Not relied upon. (DB) NLR 1984 Cr. 73 Peera etc.
Omission to mention crime empties in FIR, Site Plan and inquest report, does not detract from evidence of recovery. (DB) PLD 1988 Cr.C. (Lah. 301. Dost Muhammad. 
Crime empties not mentioned in inquest report when crime empties were not near the dead body but 20 feet away; the omission is of no consequence. (SC) PLD 1977 SC 4. Farid v. Aslam etc. PLD 1977 SC 140.
Crime empties remained with investigating officer till recovery of crime weapon. The delay is of no consequence. (SC) PLD 1977 Sc 4. Farid v.ÿAslam etc. PLD 1977 SC 140.
Crime empty sent to Ballistics Expert after recovery of The gun, held, recovery had become doubtful. 1995 SCMR 1321, Muhammad Ashfaq.
No evidence that recovered gun and emptied were kept intact at police station before sending to Laboratory. Recoveries not relied upon. NLR 1985 Cr. 348. Jahana etc.
Crime empties matching with the gun recovered from the accused appellant, but the pellets recovered from the dead body not the type of the shot which is loaded in such empty cartridges. Held, pellet recovered from dead body wholly unmatched with crime empties and hence devoid of all corroborative value. Accused acquitted. (SC) 197 SCMR 161. Hussain Ali.
Empties not recovered from the spot, but from the breach of the gun found on the spot. Gun licensed in the name of the father of PW and not proved that it was in the possession of appellant. Held, recovery of no corroborative value. (DB) PLD 1989 Cr. C (Kar.) 190, Noor Muhammad Shah.
No empty recovery from spot, recovery of gun inconsequential. 1988 SCMR 1532. Dosa.
Description of hatchets not given which were secured from the accused. Only one of the two hatchets found stained with human blood. Such weapons cannot be incriminating evidence against the accused. (DB) 1976 P.Cr.L.J. Rehman Ali.
Delay of nearly 2 months in production of property doe sot justify the inference of guilty knowledge under Section 411. P.P.C. No presumption of receiving stolen property knowing it to be such can be drawn. PLD 1963 Kar. 1010 Raza Muhammad.
6 days after the occurrence a blood-stained sota was recovered; held, not by itself in sufficient for conviction. (SC). PLD 1959 SC (Pak.) 491 Muhammad Din.
Recovery of rifle 9 days after the arrest of the accused at his instance is no ground to discredit the evidence. (DB) PLD 1961 Lah. 561 Muzaffar.
Recovery of blood-stained knife 13 days after the arrest of the accused from cowdung heap. Held, unlikely that blood-stain will remain intact so as the origin may be detected. 1983 SCMR 350. Ahmed Hayat.
Recovery of blood-stained knife from appellant by itself is not sufficient for conviction on murder charge. Recovery also held doubtful because attesting witnesses are police officials only. The recovery was made on last day physical remand of the accused. Recovery disbelieved. PLJ 1996 S.C. 168. Riaz Masih 1995 SCMR 1730.
Several days after the occurrence blood-stained clothes were recovered. Recovery cannot be doubted for delay alone. (DB) 1972 P.Cr.L.J. 107. The State v. Muhammad Hassan.
Blood-stained churri recovered after 10 days from the house of the accused not believed by the Supreme Court as the accused had ample time to wash away and clean blood on it. Accused would not be convicted because of abscondence alone when alleged motive, recovery and ocular evidence disbelieved. PLD 1996 S.C. 139. Basharat etc.
Blood-stained hatchet recovered after 22 days of the occurrence from the house of the accused. It is hard to believe that the accused would keep blood-stained weapon in his house for so long. Recovery not relied upon. PLJ 1995S.C. 532. Muhammad Arshad.
More than 46 days elapsing between occurrence and actual recoveries. Such inordinate delay creates doubts as to whether the recoveries were genuine or fake. Held, recoveries not reliable. (DB) PLD 1973 Lah. 467 Muhammad PLD 1974 Cr.C. (Lah.) 168.
Recovery next day" Crime cartridges recovered by boy of nine from scene of crime immediately after escape of culprits. Handed over to police "next day" though police had reached spot during night. Delay unexplained Suspicious circumstances. (SC) PLD 1963 Sc 25 Wasiullah v. Mirza Ali etc.
3 days' delay between recovery of crime article and deposit of sealed parcels not explained. Recovery not relied upon. PLD 1974 Cr. C. (Lah.) 478 Imam Bakhsh.
Dead body not recovered (Corpus delicti). However eye-witnesses account and recovery of earth stained with human blood, held, established homicidal death. PLD 1978 SC. 1 Allah Diatta, etc.
Case property neither shown to the witnesses nor to the accused when examined u/S. 342, Cr.P.C. Case remanded for retrial. In this case tainted money was the case property. NLR 1985 Cr. 32. Mustaq Hussain.
Non-production of stolen property in Court and failure to mark it as an exhibit vitiates the trail. Retrial ordered. 1973 P.Cr.L.J. 395 Budho. Also see 1973 P. Cr.LJ 537 Budho.
Misappropriated property not recovered would not by itself establish the innocence of the accused when once misappropriate of the property and entrustment and domain over the case property is established. 1994 P.Cr.L.J. 20, Hidayat Ullah etc. 
Pistol not sealed at the spot but after two days. Held, fabrication of empties not ruled out. (DB) PLD 1981 Cr. C. (Pesh.) 74. Haji Mir Aftab.
No crime empty secured from the spot matched wit the gun of the accused who lived 40 miles away from the place of occurrence, held, participation of he accused in the occurrence was highly doubtful. 1992 SCMR 357, Khuda Yar etc.
Recovery of gun and empties and expert opinion useless when Magistrate acquitted the accused for offence u/S. 13 XX 65. Recoveries of no corroborative value, in murder case. (DB) NLR 1988 Cr. 555 Allah Rakha.
Recovery of Fire-Arms (Carbine) not sent to forensic Laboratory has no corroborative value. (DB) NLR 1985 Cr. 717 Bashir.
Comparison of bullet lead can be ordered by the trial Court u/S. 540, Cr.P.C. when requested by the accused. NLR 1987 Cr. 667. Ghulam Yasin v. Muhammad Shabbir etc.
Non-recovery of day incriminating article from the spot does not render the prosecution evidence doubtful if it was otherwise proved. 1995 SCMR 1806, Mian Ranjha.