PHC says compromise by heirs does not affect honour killing cases

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has rejected the bail plea of a man accused of killing his daughter and another individual in an alleged honour-related incident, ruling that any compromise by the victims’ families holds no legal weight in such cases due to the principle of fasad-fil-arz (mischief on earth).

In a detailed order, Justice Sabitullah Khan observed that amendments introduced through the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offences in the Name or on Pretext of Honour) Act, 2016 brought honour-based crimes within the scope of fasad-fil-arz under Section 299 of the Pakistan Penal Code. As a result, even if legal heirs pardon the accused under qisas, courts retain the authority to impose punishment under Section 311 of the PPC.

The court noted that in offences committed in the name of so-called honour, the law mandates life imprisonment as punishment, reinforcing that such crimes are treated as offences against society rather than private disputes قابل settlement between families.

The accused, Naib Gul, was booked in September 2025 at Dossali police station in North Waziristan under Sections 302 and 311 of the PPC for allegedly murdering his daughter and another man over suspected illicit relations. According to police, both victims were found with firearm injuries, and the killings were reported to have taken place within the accused’s residence.

The bench, in its tentative assessment, termed the allegations “grave,” noting that the case falls under the prohibitory clause of Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which restricts bail in serious offences punishable by death or life imprisonment.

Highlighting the circumstances of the crime, the court emphasised that the accused was not a bystander but the father of one of the deceased, and the incident occurred within his own home. It ruled that the burden lies on him to explain the deaths—something that, at this stage, he has failed to do satisfactorily.

Addressing the defence argument that the legal heirs of one victim were unwilling to pursue the case, the court held that such willingness is irrelevant in cases involving fasad-fil-arz. It underscored that historically, perpetrators of honour killings have evaded punishment by securing pardons from family members under qisas and diyat laws.

The judgment traced legislative efforts to curb this practice, noting reforms in 2004 and more significantly in 2016, which strengthened legal provisions to ensure that honour-based violence is prosecuted as a crime against the state.

Reaffirming this position, the court concluded that offences falling under fasad-fil-arz cannot be nullified through private settlements, and therefore, the bail request did not merit acceptance at this stage.