Double-edged weapon. If it could be reason to murder the deceased, it could as well be reason to charge accused falsely on suspicion by relatives of deceased. (SC) PLJ 1978 SC 270 Allh Bakhsh etc. PLD 1978 SC 171.
Motive alone is not sufficient to sustain conviction. It is a double edged weapon. It provides incentive to the accused to commit crime and also it gives an opportunity to complaint to involve the accused. (DB) PLJ 1998 Cr.C. (Lah.) 368, Mati Ullah.
Absence of motive assumes importance where direct evidence is impeachable and unreliable. When direct evidence is unimpeachable absence of motive is immaterial. (DB) PLD 1976 Kar. 638. Rashid Ahmed.
Absence of motive not helpful to the accused. Evidence of motive is helpful and relevant to the investigating agency and the Court. However, where direct evidence is weak or absent even the strongest motive my be inept. Conversely the weakness or absence of motive is not helpful to the accused against whom unimpeachable evidence is available. (SC) PLD 1975 SC 277 Abdur Rashid v. Umid Ali.
Absence or weakness of motive does not come in the way of prosecution and can be condoned if there is otherwise strong and reliable evidence in support of the prosecution case. 1993 SCMR 585, State v. Sobharo.
Absence of motive may in many cases afford a strong presumption of innocence. PLJ 1990 Cr.C. (Kar.) 334. Umar.
Absence of motive does not deter the Courts from passing the normal sentence of death u/S. 302 PPC. (DB) PLD 1992 Pesh. 40, Saeed Gul.
Absence of motive or its weakness does not make the otherwise reliable direct evidence as less trustworthy. (DB) PLJ 1976 Lah. 165 Allah Bakhsh etc.
Motive not necessary: Allegation and proof of motive is not a legal requirement to award maximum penalty of death in a murder case. 1995 SCMR 1776, Talib Hussain etc.
Motive feeble and flimsy, conviction unwarranted. PLJ 1982 Cr. C. (Rwp.) 220. Ghulam Muhammad.
Absence or existence of motive is not of much importance when other evidence is sufficient and acceptable. PLJ 1991 Cr.C.(Kar.) 215. Ismail etc.
Motive although not necessary to prove but once set up, prosecution has to prove it, in failure whereof adverse inference has to be drawn. PLJ 1996 S.C 434, Muhammad Ahmed.
Absence or weakness of motive, in presence of ocular testimony is immaterial. (SC) PLD 1975 SC 160 Mushtaq Ahmed v. Siddiqullah. PLJ 1975 SC 61.
Absence of motive does not condemn the prosecution case outright. (DB) PLD 1952 Bal. 10 Muhammad Hanif.
No motive. Unpremeditated attack. Single knife blow in abdomen, held, murder. Death sentence maintained. (SC) PLD 1963 SC 285 Dost Muhammad.
Murders may often be committed for no motive or on minor pretexts, the intention to kill is determined from the circumstances e.g., the weapon used, seat of injury and the damage done. (SC) 1975 SCMR 289 Wazir Gul.
No motive against the injured and the deceased. Possibility that the accused had been roped in being the relations of the co-accused could not be ruled out. Enmity existed between the complainant and the accused. Accused given benefit of doubt and acquitted. 1993 SCMR 1864, Sadiq.
Very slight motive. Atrocious crimes at times are committed from very slight motives not only for seeking revenge but also to gain small pecuniary advantage and to drie off difficulties for a time. (SC) PLD 1976 SC 44. Razia Begum v. Hijrat Ali etc. PLJ 1976 SC 234.
Murder can be committed without strong motive. Death sentence upheld. (DB) NLR 1994 Cr. 312, Abdul Majeed etc.
Adequacy or otherwise of motive is not of much importance in criminal cases. (DB) 1974 P.Cr.LJ 39 Shaboo.
Weakness of motive is not ground for rejecting direct ocular testimony of a witness. (SC) 1968 SCMR 719 Shafoo.
Inadequate or non-existent motive. Even without avowed intention anyone causing injury on vital part of body with formidable and inherently deadly weapon (Chhuri one foot long) could only do so with no other intention but to kill. (SC) 1968 SCMR 781. Akhtar Ali Syed.
Adequacy of motive is not of much importance. Proof of motive only weakens presumption of innocence and corroborates evidence of guilt. Murders have been committed from very slight motive. (FB) PLD 1958 Kar. 571 (576) Sheru.
Inadequacy of motive has no significance because motiveless murders are also committed. (DB) NLR 1987 Cr. 726. Gulab.
Motive need not to be comparable in degree to gravity of offence. Different motives bear different weight for individuals. PLJ 1973 Lah. 188 Dost Muhammad.
Motive in murder case cannot be relied upon when material improvements are made by witnesses in their statements u/S. 161, Cr.P.C. (DB) NLR 1990 Cr. 656. Nazar Hussain etc.
Motive obscure and shrouded in mystery. Evidence of motive disbelieved by Court is no reason for disbelieving direct evidence about main incident. (SC) PLD 1974 SC 87. State v. Rab Nawaz.
Motive for murder shrouded in mystery and only one chhuri blow given which proved fatal. Sentence reduced to life imprisonment. (D.B) PLJ 1996 Cr.C. (Lah.) 1802, Muhammad Riaz.
Motive shrouded in mystery, immediate cause of occurrence not revealed. Death sentence reduced to life imprisonment. (D.B) PLJ 1996 Cr.C. (Lah.)1742 Abdul Karim.
Motive shrouded in mystery, death sentence reduced to life imprisonment. (D.B) 1996 Cr.C. (Lah.) 865, Shujat Ali.
Far-fetched motive is not worthy of consideration. Quarrel allegedly taking place one year before the occurrence and compromised. (DB) 1974 P.Cr.LJ Note 105 Aziz Ahmed.
Motive 2 months old. When motive was set up that the deceased had illicit relations with the daughter-in-law of the appellant who had taken her away from the house of the deceased and no untoward incident had happened. Held, motive appears to be remote and prosecution has failed to establish it. (DB) PLJ 1992 Cr.C. (Quetta) 106, Barkat Ali.
Motive 3 years old becomes dormant and cannot be treated as cause of murder. NLR 1990 Cr. 308. Anokha Masih.
Motive not proved, alleged motive occurred before the birth of the accused/petitioner. Nothing happened during 15/16 years. Held, there must be some other reason which has not been disclosed prosecution. Death sentence reduced to life imprisonment. PLJ 1995 S.C. 651, Zulfikar Ali alias Bhutto = 1995 SCMR 1668.
Motive not proved, death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. (DB) PLJ 1998 Cr.C. (Lah.) 332, Naseer Ahmed.
25 years old motive with no untoward incident in the meanwhile, held, motive of no consequence. (DB) NLR 1989 Cr. 95. Thiraj etc.
Motive not strong enough to kill, held, offence fell under section 304 (II), as intention to cause death not present. (DB) PLD 1950 Lah. 185 Muhammad Bashir v. Crown.
Motive, however strong cannot afford necessary corroboration of approver's testimony. (DB) PLD 1960 Kar. 697. Qabil Shah.
Motive false. Where motive is an important constituent and is found by the Court to be untrue, Court should be on guard to accept prosecution story. (SC) PLJ 1976 Sc 283 Ameen Ullah.
False motive. Murders may be committed without motive. Where motive alleged by prosecution is found to be false, evidence of such witnesses should be accepted with great caution. (SC) PLD 1969 SC 127 Habibullah
Motive false or abandoned. A motive found to be false and completely abandoned at trial, the Court should be on guard in accepting the prosecution story and should scrutinise credentials of prosecution witnesses. (DB) PLD 1974 Kar. 274 Nazir Muhammad.
When plausible motive is not stated, the prosecution has to suffer for its silence. PLJ 1992 SC 149. Muhammad Younas Khan.
Motive set up not appealing to reason, it appeared that the prosecution concealed some material facts. Origin of quarrel prior to occurrence shrouded in mystery and obscurity. Death sentence reduced to life imprisonment. (D.B) PLJ 1995 Cr.C. (Pesh) 1, Haider Zaman etc.
Where motive is alleged but not proved the Court must scrutinise the remaining evidence with caution. (DB) PLJ 1990 Cr.C. (Kar.) 435. Muhammad Achar.
Motive as alleged not fully proved; lesser penalty as provided under the law would amply meet the ends of justice. Life imprisonment awarded. 1992 SCMR 1036 Mst. Roheeda v. Khan Bahadar etc.
Real cause leading to incident withheld by both the parties. Motive alleged not established. Sentence of life imprisonment imposed instead of death. 1994 SCMR 1096, Muhammad Bashir v. Khalid Mehmood.
Motive witness standing falsified to the extent of motive. Evidence of such motive witness needs strong and independent corroboration before it can be accepted. (DB) PLJ 1974 Cr.C. (Lah.) 84 Akbar Shah.
Falsity and non-proof of motive, the prosecution must suffer. 1989 Cr. 521. Muhammad Hassan.
Two opposite versions of same incident: In such cases motive assumes critical importance as it explains conduct of persons and also helps in proper appreciation of evidence. (SC) PLD 1976 SC 241 Ghulam Muhammad v. Allah Yar. PLJ 1976 SC 205.
Motive does not corroborate ocular or circumstantial evidence. It merely shows the cause for committing crime. (DB) PLJ 1975 Cr.C. (Lah.) 19 Hakam Khan.
Motive cannot be held to be a corroborative evidence, when parties are inimical, as a motive is a double edged weapon. PLJ 1988 Cr.C. (Kar.) 48. Ismail.
Motive against the accused could not furnish as an independent and unimpeachable pice of evidence to corroborate interested testimony of eye-witnesses. 1998 SCMR 279, Muhammad Ashraf etc.
Motive useful in appreciating and evaluating evidence but by itself it is no proof of the crime charged. (SC) 1969 SCMR 541 = 1969 P.Cr.LJ 1072 Sardar Ali.
Prosecution need not establish motive at all. (DB) PLD 1965 Kar. 31; (DB) 1968 P.Cr.LJ 1646 Habibullah etc.
Motive is not necessary to prove in a murder case by the prosecution. (DB) PLD 1954 Lah. 710 Zahid Hussain v. Crown.
Prosecution is not bound to prove motive for the crime. (DB) PLD 1962 Dacca 46 Tasir-ud-Din.
Failure to prove motive is not always fatal to prosecution. PLJ 1983 SC 174. Manzoor Ahmed. 1986 SCMR 1424 Ghulam Nabi v. Daim etc.
Proof of Motive for previous ill-will is not necessary to sustain a conviction for murder where a person is coolly and deliberately put to death and caught red-handed. 1985 SCMR 269. Aftab Iqbal v. Manzoor Ahmed etc.
Prosecution not bound to establish motive. Question of motive however cannot be brushed aside in all cases as entirely irrelevant. 1976 P.Cr.LJ 40. Abbas Shah etc.
Prosecution though not called upon to establish motive in every case, yet once it has set up a motive and filed to establish it, the prosecution must suffer consequence and not the defence. (SC) 1971 SCMR 432. Hakim Ali.
Motive alleged not proved. Ocular evidence required to be scrutinised with great caution. 1979 SCMR 214. Muhammad Sadiq v. Muhammad Sarwar etc.
Where motive is alleged, prosecution must prove it; when it fails to prove it prosecution must suffer and evidence of PWs must be examined cautiously. (DB) PLJ 1990 Cr.C. (Kar.) 418. Amir Bux.
Alleged motive not proved. Prosecution failing to prove motive set up by it, prosecution to suffer for it. (DB) 1976 P.Cr.LJ 243 Mangio.
Motive not proved though set up, it goes against the prosecution. (DB) PLJ 1980 Cr.C. (Lah.) 453. Haji Ahmed.
Motive not a necessary ingredient of murder. Motive is after all a matter of speculation for what moves a person to take the life of another is within his special knowledge and does not constitute necessary ingredient of murder. (SC) 1968 SCMR 508 Atta Muhammad.
Motive immaterial. Ocular testimony of witnesses reliable, motive immaterial in circumstances (SC) 1970 SCMR 713 = 1971 P.Cr.LJ 490 Muhammad Shafqat.
Motive being always a weak piece of evidence cannot furnish sufficient corroboration of ocular evidence. 1997 SCMR 290, Qalbe Abbas = PLJ 1997 SC 193.
Motive alone cannot form basis of conviction or corroboration of confession. Motive is often a matter of conjecture. (DB) PLD 1956 Kar. 350 Ramzan.
Conviction based on motive alone set aside. (DB) PLD 1962 Kar. 532 Mst. Hajul.
Motive does not replace evidence. Motive can never supply the want of reliable evidence. (DB) AIR 1926 Lah. 88. Rannum.
Motive is a guess by prosecution witness. What truly motives an accused person to commit crime is best known to him and not to others. Absence of motive or failure of the prosecution to prove it does not adversely affect the testimony of eye-witness if they are otherwise reliable. (SC) 1977 SCMR 175. Ahmed Nisar.
Motive plays a very vital role in every criminal case, and once the prosecution alleges a motive, then it is duty bound to carry it to its logical conclusion. (D.B) 1995 P.CR.L.J. 459, Astam Khan.
Motive plays a important part in any case entirely dependent on circumstantial evidence. 1992 SCMR 2279, Maqbool Ahmed.
Proof. Motive can be proved by any person having knowledge of the facts. (SC) PLD 1977 SC 14. Siraj-ud-Din v. Misbahul Islam. PLJ 1977 SC 28.
(Also see Motive under sentence for mitigation)