HAYAT KHAN and 3 others vs STATE and another
This matter concerns a petition for pre-arrest bail filed by Hayat Khan and three others in relation to FIR No. 110/07, registered under Sections 419, 468, and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860, involving allegations of preparing a forged agreement to sell land. The core legal question was whether the criminal proceedings were maintainable given the underlying civil nature of the dispute and the existence of a prior civil suit for specific performance filed by the petitioners. The Court observed that the dispute was essentially civil in nature, as evidenced by the pending civil litigation and the parties' attempts at compromise. Consequently, the Court confirmed the pre-arrest bail, holding that where a dispute is prima facie civil in nature and already subject to adjudication by a court of competent jurisdiction, criminal proceedings should not be used to settle such disputes. The principle laid down is that criminal courts should exercise caution when the gravamen of a criminal complaint is inextricably linked to a pending civil dispute.
- Can criminal proceedings be maintained when the underlying dispute is essentially civil in nature and already pending before a civil court?
- Does the existence of a prior civil suit for specific performance regarding the same subject matter influence the grant of pre-arrest bail in a forgery case?
- Section 419, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 468, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 471, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
ORDER
Petitioners namely Hayat Khan, Mehmood Khan, Ali Sher & Falak Sher, seek bail before arrest in case FIR No, 110/07 dated 27.9.2007 under Sections 419, 468, 471. P.P.C. registered at Police Station Civil Line District Sahiwal.
2. According to FIR, the precise allegation against the petitioners is that they along with others prepared a forged agreement to sell in order to grab die complainant's land.
3. It is contended that civil suit filed by the petitioner-Hayat Khan for specific performance of the disputed agreement was filed on 21.07.2007 much before the registration of the instant case; that the instant case has been got registered by the complainant to wriggle-out of the said sale agreement. It is further submitted that even recently complainant had entered into a compromise, photostat copy of which has been placed on record, with regard to the criminal litigation and also the civil litigation. It is, thus, concluded that the matter in dispute is inherently one of civil nature.
4. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State has opposed this application whereas- the learned counsel for the ,complainant does not deny the fact of compromise through an agreement dated 14.04.2008, however, submits that both the parties resiled from the said agreement rather he has also placed on record an affidavit of Hayat Khan-petitioner with regard to the same dispute.
5. I have considered the contentious raised from both sides.
6. The proceedings of compromise between the parties which have been placed on record, prima facie, indicate that the dispute between the parties is one of civil nature which is pending in a Court of competent jurisdiction. Therefore, this application is allowed and the pre-arrest bail already granted to the petitioners vide order dated 7.03.2008 is confined subject to their furnishing fresh bail bonds in the sum of Rs, 50,000/- each with one surety each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court.