SARDAR NAZEER vs THE STATE
This criminal bail application arises from a matter where gold of foreign origin was recovered from an aircraft at the Karachi airport, and the applicant was implicated solely because a co-accused travelled on a ticket issued in his name. The core legal question is whether an accused can be held liable for smuggling and denied bail merely on the basis of a ticket issued in his name and subsequent association with a co-accused in another unrelated offence, in the absence of direct evidence connecting him to the crime. The Sindh High Court held that suspicion cannot be a substitute for evidence and that abscondence is irrelevant without foundational evidence. The court granted pre-trial bail to the applicant, laying down the principle that an individual cannot be arraigned or denied liberty without substantive evidence or a presumption of law linking them to the alleged offense.
- Whether an accused can be denied bail solely on the ground that a co-accused travelled on a ticket issued in the applicant's name?
- Can suspicion serve as a substitute for evidence in criminal jurisprudence?
- Is the alleged abscondance of an accused relevant when there is a total absence of evidence connecting the accused to the crime?
ORDER
' ALI SAIN DINO METLO, J.--Heard Messrs. Aamir Mansoob Qureshi, Advocate for the applicant and Mehmood Alan Rizvi, Standing Counsel. The later concedes that neither the applicant had travelled by the plane from which the gold was recovered nor there was any other evidence to connect him with the smuggling of gold, except that co-accused Nazarul Islam was found to have travelled on a ticket issued in the name of the applicant. He concedes that ticket can be issued in the name of any person without any application or physical presence.
2. According to the prosecution,. PTA's Airbus No.A-300 coming from Abu-Dhabi with flight No.PK- 280 arrived at Islamabad International Airport on 2-11-1994, and on the same day it proceeded to Karachi on a domestic flight bearing No.PK-363 and reached at Quaid-eAzam International Airport at about 2300 hours. Gold of foreign origin weighing 7000 Tolas in the shape of 700 bars each of 10 Tolas concealed in the toilets of the aircraft was recovered and seized by the staff of Customs Intelligence and Investigation. Five of the passengers, namely, Muhammad Akhtar, Nazarul Islam, Muhammad Siddique, Arshad Ali and Mst. Nighat were arrested for smuggling the gold into the country. Nazarul Islam was found travelling on a ticket issued in the name of the applicant
3. The learned Standing Counsel contends that after several years the applicant was arrested along with Nazarul Islam in some other offence showing that they had been committing crimes together and might have committed the present crime also together. The view canvassed by the learned Standing Counsel is farfetched and against the basic principles of criminal administration of justice. No person can be arraigned without evidence against him. Suspicion cannot be substitute of evidence. In absence of any evidence or presumption of law against the applicant, his alleged abscondance will be of no relevance. In such circumstances, the applicant is admitted to bail in the sum of Rs.100,000 A with one surety and personal bond in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial Court.