Fawad Ali vs The State, etc
This matter involves criminal petitions seeking the cancellation of bail granted to private respondents. The Supreme Court first addressed the issue of limitation, finding that the main petitions were filed with a 45-day delay without valid or sufficient grounds for condonation, leading to the dismissal of the accompanying miscellaneous applications and the main petitions. Beyond the limitation issue, the Court observed that the petitions were inherently misconceived. The Court held that when an accused person who has been admitted to bail is subsequently declared a Proclaimed Offender or when non-bailable warrants for their arrest are issued, such events ipso facto result in the cancellation of the accused's bail. Consequently, the Court affirmed the legal principle that the issuance of non-bailable warrants or the declaration of an accused as a Proclaimed Offender operates automatically to revoke existing bail, rendering separate petitions for bail cancellation unnecessary in such circumstances.
- Does the issuance of non-bailable warrants for the arrest of an accused person admitted to bail ipso facto result in the cancellation of that bail?
- Does the declaration of an accused person as a Proclaimed Offender automatically cancel their bail?
- Are petitions for bail cancellation misconceived if the accused has already been declared a Proclaimed Offender or if non-bailable warrants have been issued against them?
Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, CJ.: Criminal Miscellaneous Applications No. 772, 773 and 774 of 2019 in Criminal Petitions No. 562, 563 and 564 of 2019 The main petitions are barred by 45 days and the reason mentioned in these miscellaneous applications seeking condonation of the delay in filing of the main petitions has not been found by us to be valid or sufficient for the purpose. These miscellaneous applications are, therefore, dismissed.
Criminal Petitions No. 562, 563 and 564 of 2019
2. These petitions are dismissed as barred by time.
3. Before parting with this order we would like to observe that these petitions seeking cancellation of the private respondents' bail are even otherwise misconceived because the impugned judgments passed by the High Court show that during the pendency of the proceedings before the High Court the private respondents in these petitions had failed to appear and resultantly non-bailable warrants for their arrest had been issued which could not be executed. The law already stands settled that if an accused person admitted to bail is subsequently declared a Proclaimed Offender or non-bailable warrants for his arrest are issued then such declaration or issuance of non-bailable warrants ipso facto amounts to cancellation of that accused person's bail. A reference in this respect may be made to the cases of Yusuf Masih v the State (1987 PCr.LJ 1412), Muhammad Boota v Muhammad Arshad and another (Criminal Miscellaneous No. 1481-CB of 2009 decided by the Lahore High Court, Lahore on 09.02.2009), Sharafat Ali v The State, etc. (Criminal Revision No. 680 of 2008 decided by the Lahore High Court, Lahore on 15.04.2009 which order was subsequently upheld by this Court through the order dated 04.06.2009 passed in Criminal Petition No. 438-L of 2009) and Atta-ur-Rehman v Rana Phool, etc. (Criminal Petition No. 558-L of 2014 decided by this Court on 17.07.2014).