An identification parade is unsafe if it is conducted with unexplained delay, it is a joint parade for multiple accused, and the witness does not identify the accused with respect to a specific role.
The accused was convicted and sentenced to death under s. 17(4) of the Offences Against Property (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979 read with PPC 302(a). The Federal Shariat Court converted the conviction to PPC 302(b) and confirmed the sentence. The accused allegedly robbed a store and shot the owner, who later succumbed to his injuries. The Supreme Court found the test identification parade defective because there was an unexplained delay in conducting the parade and because a joint parade was held for multiple accused. Furthermore, the witnesses did not state the role attributed to each accused persons, making the identification of no value. The Court held that these cumulative errors made the identification unsafe and, finding insufficient other evidence, acquitted the accused.
