Fatima Bibi vs The State
This matter concerns a petition for post-arrest bail filed by a female accused charged under Section 9(c) of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, following the alleged recovery of 1250 grams of charas from her residence. The core legal question was whether the petitioner was entitled to bail given the circumstances of the recovery, her gender, and allegations of mala fide implication. The Lahore High Court held that the petitioner was entitled to bail. The Court reasoned that the Chemical Examiner's report was pending, rendering the nature of the recovered substance uncertain, and noted the credible possibility that the petitioner was falsely implicated due to a prior legal dispute involving her husband and a police official. Furthermore, the Court emphasized that the petitioner was a first-time offender and a woman, bringing her case within the scope of the proviso to Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. Consequently, the Court granted bail, establishing that prolonged pre-trial detention without a concluded forensic report, coupled with potential mala fides and the statutory protections afforded to women, warrants the exercise of judicial discretion in favor of bail.
- Does the absence of a Chemical Examiner's report regarding the nature of the recovered substance constitute grounds for further inquiry in a narcotics case?
- Can allegations of mala fide implication by police officials justify the grant of bail in a narcotics case?
- Does the status of being a woman entitle an accused to the benefit of the proviso to Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 in narcotics cases?
- Section 9(c), Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997
- Section 497, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
- Section 324, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 452, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 379, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 148, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 149, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 354, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 337-A(i), Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 337-A(ii), Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 347, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
ORDER
Fatima Bibi petitioner seeks post arrest bail in case F.I.R. No. 93/2009, dated 21.5.2009, registered under Section 9(c) of the C.N.S.A., 1997 at Police Station Raja Jang, District Kasur.
2. Precise allegations against the petitioner, as per narration of the F.I.R., are that during the raid conducted by the police 1250 grams charas was recovered lying on-a cot in her house.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the petitioner has been falsely implicated in the present case due to the reason that a case F.I.R. No. 331/2008 was registered at the same Police Station on 26.12.2008 on the application of Muhammad Mushtaq under Sections 324/452/379/148/149/354/337-A(i)/337-A(ii)/347, P.P.C. In which husband of the petitioner Muhammad alias Warraich was one of the accused persons. She was pursuing that case and the complainant of that case is a Constable in Elite Force and the police with his active connivance got the case registered against the petitioner with mala fide intention and ulterior motive. He further contends that the petitioner is first offender and is behind the bars for the last about six months, as such, being a woman his case falls under the proviso to Section 497, Cr.P.C. And she is entitled for the grant of bail.
4. Learned D.P.G, opposes the bail application on the ground that a huge quantity of narcotic has been recovered from the possession of the petitioner and that she is not entitled to be released on bail.
5. We have heard the learned counsel, for the parties and also perused the record. The petitioner is continuously behind the bars since 21.5.2009, but so far according to the A.S.I. Present alongwith the record, the report of the Chemical Examiner has not been received and for the time being it cannot be said that the substance allegedly recovered from the petitioner was Charas. Even otherwise, learned counsel for the petitioner has placed on record copy of another F.I.R. No. 331 registered on 26.12.2008 in which the petitioner was pursuing the case of her husband and complainant of the said case is a Constable of Elite Force. The possibility cannot be ruled that he has manoeuvred the implication of the petitioner in the present case, who has no previous record and is also a woman, whose case fall within the proviso to Section 497, Cr.P.C. The learned counsel has rightly relied upon .The order dated 14.9.2009 passed by this Court in Criminal Miscellaneous No. 11084-B/2009 in which bail was allowed to the accused from whom charas of the same quantity was recovered and he remained behind the bars for five months. The relevant portion is reproduced as under:- "Personal search of the petitioner yielded 1020 grams of Charas which makes it a borderline case.
The petitioner does hot have the antecedents of a drug dealer or a drug peddler as he has not been involved in any case of similar nature in the past.
In such circumstances, we find it a fit case for the grant of bail to the petitioner, who cannot be detained behind the bars for indefinite period when on the one hand she has succeeded in making out a case of further inquiry and on the other hand there is no possibility of conclusion of the trial in the near future. Accordingly, this petition is allowed and the petitioner is admitted to bail subject to her furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court.