QAYYUM and anothers vs The STATE and anothers
This matter comes before the Lahore High Court through a petition filed under Section 498 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898, wherein the petitioners sought pre-arrest bail in respect of case FIR No. 260/15 registered at Police Station Zafarwal, District Narowal, for offences under Sections 337A(ii), 337F(i), 337F(iii), 337L(2), 148, and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860. The core legal question revolves around whether the petitioners are entitled to confirmation of pre-arrest bail given the unexplained delay in lodging the FIR, general allegations without specific attribution, pre-existing civil litigation, and completion of the investigation. The Court held that the petitioners have made out a case for pre-arrest bail, confirming the ad interim bail already granted. The key principles laid down include that unexplained delay in FIR registration points towards deliberation, general allegations without specific roles assigned warrant pre-arrest relief, and pre-existing civil litigation between parties creates a strong possibility of false implication.
- Whether unexplained delay in the registration of an FIR warrants the grant of pre-arrest bail?
- Does the attribution of general allegations without specific roles justify confirmation of pre-arrest bail?
- Can pending civil litigation between parties be considered a ground for potential false implication in criminal proceedings?
- Whether pre-arrest bail can be confirmed when the accused have already joined the investigation and no useful purpose would be served by their incarceration?
- Section 498, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
- Section 337A(ii), Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 337F(i), Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 337F(iii), Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 337L(2), Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 148, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 149, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 337N(2), Pakistan Penal Code 1860
ORDER
' ABDUL SAMI KHAN, J.---Through this petition under Section 498, Cr.P.C. Qayyum and Faisal petitioners have sought pre-arrest bail in case FIR No,260/15, dated 20.07.2015 registered at Police Station Zafarwal, District Narowal in respect of offences under Sections 337A(ii), 337F(i), 337F(iii), 337L(2), 148, 149, P.P.C.
2. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the record of this case with their able assistance. This is bail before arrest, deeper appreciation of evidence is not allowed and only tentative assessm ent is required at this stage. It has been noticed that there is a delay of twelve days in registration of FIR, which has not been explained by the complainant, which prima facie shows that the FIR has been got recorded after due deliberation and consultation. Moreso, no specific role in the commission of alleged occurrence has been assigned to the present petitioners and only general allegation of giving beating to the complainant and his companions is leveled against the petitioners and their ten other co-accused. Civil litigation is pending between the parties and that can be the reason for false implication of the petitioners by the complainant in the instant case by spreading the net wide. The person of the petitioner cannot be handed over to police only for the purpose of effecting recovery, which otherwise has lost relevancy with the passage of time as occurrence in this case took place on 08.07.2015. In such situation, recovery of weapons of offence i.e, "danday, sotay" is of little .Help to the prosecution. In this regard, reliance can be placed on 2014 SCM R 1349. Admittedly the petitioners are previous non-convict and never involved in any other case of such like nature, therefore, section 337N(2), P.P.C. Comes to their rescue as they are not previous convicts, neither they are hardened, dangerous, desperate criminals nor they have committed the alleged offence on the pretext of honour. They have already joined the investigation, which is complete to their extent, therefore, no useful purpose would be served by sending them behind the bars so as to enable them to come out of jail on post arrest bail after few days.
3. For what has been discussed above, false implication of the petitioners by the complainant with ulterior motive and mala fide intention cannot be ruled out of consideration, therefore, the ad interim pre-arrest bail already granted to the petitioners is confirmed subject to furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs,50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) each with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial court.
4. The observations made above are tentative in nature and are strictly confined to the decision of this bail petition only.