Criminal Law and Procedure
This domain tests the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, including the Qisas and Diyat provisions inserted into the PPC.
General principles
Crime requires a prohibited act plus mens rea, subject to the general exceptions (ss. 76–106): mistake of fact, accident, infancy, insanity (s. 84), intoxication, consent and private defence. Private defence (ss. 96–106) must be necessary and proportionate; causing death is permitted only in the limited situations listed in s. 100.
Specific offences
Qatl-i-amd (s. 302) carries death, qisas, diyat or imprisonment; attempt is s. 324. Hurt is dealt with in s. 337. Theft (s. 378) becomes robbery with force (s. 390) and dacoity with five or more persons (s. 391). Criminal breach of trust is s. 405/406; cheating is s. 415/420.
Procedure
- FIR under s. 154; investigation under s. 156.
- Arrest under s. 54; production before a magistrate within 24 hours (Article 10(2) of the Constitution).
- Remand under s. 167 is time-limited and must be justified by the needs of investigation.
- Bail: s. 496 in bailable cases; s. 497 in non-bailable cases, with the further-inquiry principle in s. 497(2).
- Charge, trial, appeal, revision and the inherent powers preserved for the High Court.
Worked example
A and B plan a robbery; A keeps watch while B snatches a bag, using force. Both face robbery with common intention under s. 34. If five or more participate, the offence escalates to dacoity. But if A merely intended theft and had no knowledge of force, s. 34 cannot be stretched to make him liable for robbery.
Traps
Confusing s. 34 common intention with s. 149 unlawful assembly; treating an FIR as substantive evidence; relying on a confession to police; forgetting that the 24-hour period runs from arrest, not from the FIR.