Gita Mittal, J.

1. By way of Death Sentence Reference No.2/2012, this court is required to consider the legality and validity of the judgment dated 17th March, 2012 whereby the respondents in Death Reference no.2/2012 have been found guilty for commission of offences under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC as well as order of sentence dated 26th March, 2012 whereby they have all been sentenced to death penalty for commission of such offences as well as payment of fine of Rs.5,000/- each and in case of default, one month’s rigorous imprisonment each.

2. The respondents have assailed the said judgment and said order of sentence by way of the criminal appeals being Crl.A.No.472/2012, Zulfikar Ali v. State; Crl.A.No.473/2012, Mubin Fatima v. State; and Crl.A.No.474/2012, Gulbeg Ali v. State. Inasmuch as the three appeals and the death reference arise out of the same judgment based upon the same record and raise similar questions of law and fact, we are taking them together for consideration.

So far as reference to parties is concerned, for the purposes of convenience, we are referring to the convicts as the respondents in the present judgment.

Scope of considerati