Pakistan Case Law
1979 SCMR 9

MUHAMMAD FAZAL Alias BODI vs The STATE

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Citation1979 SCMR 9
CourtSupreme Court of Pakistan
Case No.Criminal Miscellaneous No. 3508/13 Criminal Appeal No. 130 of 1978
Date1978-11-22
Judge(s)Anwarul Haq, C. J., Muhammad Akram, Karam Elahee Chauhan and Nasim Hasan Shah
Authored byNasim Hasan Shah
ResultAppeal accepted
AI Summary — generated from this judgment; read the full text below and verify before relying on it.

The petitioner sought leave to appeal against the order of the Lahore High Court refusing his third application for post-arrest bail in a murder case registered under Section 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860. The primary ground urged before the Supreme Court was that a co-accused, to whom an identical role was attributed, had already been released on bail by the High Court, and that the petitioner was entitled to similar relief on the principle of consistency. The Supreme Court did not examine the merits of the case or the question of statutory delay, but converted the petition into an appeal and held that the petitioner must be released on bail to maintain consistency in the judicial treatment of co-accused persons facing the same allegations. The Court laid down the principle that where a co-accused assigned a similar role has been granted bail within the same case, the principle of consistency requires that subsequent similarly situated accused persons should likewise be granted bail.

Questions settled in this judgment
  • Whether an accused person is entitled to bail on the principle of consistency when a co-accused with an identical role has already been released on bail?
  • Does the release of a co-accused on bail furnish a valid ground for the grant of bail to another co-accused assigned a similar role?
Laws & provisions referred
  • Section 302, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
  • Section 34, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
post-arrest bailconsistency in bailco-accused bailmurder caseSupreme Court of Pakistan

ORDER

1. NASIM HASAN SHAH, J.-The petitioner seeks leave to appeal from the order dated 18-9-1978 of the Lahore High Court, refusing to release him on bail in a case under section 302/34, P. P. C. Registered at Police Station Sadar, Kasur.

2. On the basis of the First Information Report dated 13-7-1976 the petitioner and his co-accused Shera were arrested on 15-7-1976 in connection with the murder of one Muhammad Munir. The petitioner was refused bail by the Sessions Judge and in the High Court his first and second application for bail (Cr. Misc. No. 4093/B of 1967 and Cr. Misc. No. 624/13 of 1978) were respectively dismissed by Mr. Justice Muhammad Rafiq on 31-10-1977 and 14-2-1978.

3. After the release of the co-accused on bail, the petitioner moved his third application for. Bail (Cr.

4. Misc. No. 3508/B of 1978) before the High Court pressing into service the release on bail of the co- accused by another Bench and contending that his case was identical with his. The learned Judge dismissed the application as in his view the delay of two years was in itself not a sufficient ground for bail. He also relied upon Anwar Khan v. State (1978SCMR314) where delay of three years was not considered as a sufficient ground for bail by the Supreme Court.

5. On behalf of the petitioner it is submitted that the decision of this Court in Riyasat A.I v. State (PLD1977SC480) governed the field on the point of delay and the learned Judge fell into an error in refusing bail to the petitioner, particu--larly when the co-accused who had been attributed an identical role in the commission of the crime, had been released on bail by the High Court.

6. Without going into the merits of the case and the various rulings mentioned in the petition for leave to appeal requiring out consideration and interpretation, we think that the petitioner should be released on bail on the principle of requirement of consistency in the same case and for the similar reason that the co-accused to whom a role similar to that of the petitioner was attributed had been so released by another learned Judge of the same High Court. This petition is, accordingly, converted into an appeal and disposed of as such. The petitioner (Muhammad Fazil alias Bodi) is allowed bail in the sum of Rs. 25,000 with two sureties in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner, Kasur.

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