Ljaz Ahmad vs The State, Etc.
The petitioner filed a post-arrest bail application in a case registered under Section 13 of the Pakistan Arms Ordinance 1965 and Sections 4/5 of the Explosive Substances Act 1908. The petitioner had previously been granted bail by the trial court but subsequently absconded after being implicated in a separate murder case. Following his arrest in the murder case, he was acquitted after a full trial. Upon his re-arrest in the instant case, he remained in custody as an under-trial prisoner. The core question was whether the petitioner, having absconded and jumped bail due to fear of implication in a separate matter in which he was ultimately acquitted, should be granted bail again. The Court held that the petitioner's subsequent acquittal in the murder case and his period of incarceration in the instant case warranted the grant of bail. The Court reasoned that continued imprisonment would serve no useful purpose, as the petitioner had likely learned a lesson from his previous conduct. Consequently, the bail application was accepted subject to the furnishing of bail bonds.
- Can an accused who previously absconded and jumped bail be granted post-arrest bail again after being acquitted in a separate criminal case?
- Does the acquittal of an accused in a subsequent criminal case constitute a valid ground for granting bail in a pending case where the accused had previously absconded?
- Section 13, Pakistan Arms Ordinance 1965
- Section 4, Explosive Substances Act 1908
- Section 5, Explosive Substances Act 1908
ORDER SHAHID HAMEED DAR, J. - The petitioner seeks bail after arrest in case F.I.R. No. 121, dated 21,05.2008, under Section 13 of Pakistan Arms Ordinance XX of 1965 and under Sections 4/5 of Explosive Substances Act, 1908, registered at Police Station Kakrali, District Gujrat.
2. The record reveals that the petitioner was granted post-arrest bail vide order dated 27.05.2008 by the learned Trial Court i.e. Learned Magistrate Section-30, Kharian (Gujrat). Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner unluckily got involved in a murder case later on, wherein he- absconded to avoid arrest as he had not committed the offence alleged. He was finally arrested in the said case on 29.05.2012 and tried by the Anti-Terrorism Court, Gujranwala where he earned a judgment of acquittal on 24.10.2012 after a full-fledged trial. The arrest of the petitioner was recorded again in this case on 26.06.2012 and since then he had been regularly appearing in the Trial Court as an under-trial prisoner. The probability cannot be mled out that the petitioner absconded and jumped the facility of bail only out of fear otherwise he might not have done so. He, however, turned out to be innocent through a judicial verdict, in the said murder case. Having been behind the bars for about seven months, the accused-petitioner must have learned a lesson by now, so to keep him continuously imprisoned may not serve any useful purpose. Therefore, the instant application is accepted and petitioner is admitted to postarrest bail subject to furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs. ,1,00,000/- with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court.