MUHAMMAD ASGHAR alias SADAM vs STATE and another
The petitioner, Muhammad Asghar alias Saddam, sought post-arrest bail in a criminal case registered under Sections 147, 149, 337-A(i), 337-A(iii), and 342 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860, following allegations of causing injury to the complainant with a sota. The core legal question was whether the petitioner was entitled to bail given the nature of the injury and his alleged criminal history. The Court held that because the injury did not result in a skull fracture, the intent to murder remained a matter for trial determination. Furthermore, the Court ruled that the petitioner's status as a proclaimed offender or history-sheeter did not preclude bail, especially in the absence of evidence of prior convictions. Emphasizing that the petitioner had been incarcerated for four months without the conclusion of the trial, the Court granted the bail petition. The key principle established is that bail should not be denied solely on the basis of a history-sheeter status or allegations of being a proclaimed offender where no prior convictions are proven and the specific intent of the offense remains subject to trial adjudication.
- Does the status of a petitioner as a history-sheeter or proclaimed offender automatically disentitle them to bail?
- Is bail grantable when the intent to commit a specific crime, such as murder, remains a matter to be established at trial?
- Can bail be granted when the injury caused does not involve a fracture of the skull?
- Section 147, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 149, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 337-A(i), Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 337-A(iii), Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 342, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
ORDER
Muhammad Asghar alias Saddam petitioner seeks his release on bail in case FIR No, 582 dated 9.12.2011 registered against him under Sections 149, 342, 147, 337-A(iii), 337-A(i), PPC with Police Station Dinga, District Gujrat having an allegation that the petitioner while armed with sota hit at the forehead of the complainant and caused injury covered by Section 337-A(iii), PPC.
2. After having heard the learned counsel for the parties and perusing the record it is found that the injury allegedly caused by the petitioner did not result into fracture of the skull, therefore, the question whether the petitioner had inflicted injury with the intention to murder him is yet to be established during the trial. The submission of the learned counsel for the complainant that the petitioner remained proclaimed offender and is a history-sheeter, cannot stand in the way of grant of relief of bail to him, particularly when there is nothing on the file to suggest that the petitioner was convicted in any of the case shown at his, credit. The petitioner is facing incarceration for the last four months whose trial has not yet been concluded and that criminal intent is yet to be determined in the trial.
3. In view of above, this petition is allowed and Muhammad Asghar alias Sadam petitioner is admitted to bail subject to his 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.