Ghulam Abbas vs The State and Another
This criminal petition for leave to appeal arose from the refusal of the High Court to grant post-arrest bail to the petitioner, Ghulam Abbas, who was charged with murder and attempted murder following an incident in 2004. The petitioner had absconded for approximately 16 years before his arrest in 2020. The core legal questions addressed were whether the acquittal of a co-accused provides a valid ground for the petitioner's release on bail and whether advanced age and frail health, in the absence of specific medical disorders, justify bail despite a long period of abscondance. The Supreme Court held that the acquittal of a co-accused does not automatically entitle the petitioner to bail. Furthermore, the Court determined that the petitioner's prolonged abscondance, combined with witness statements and medical evidence, established reasonable grounds for his continued detention under the relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898. The Court affirmed the High Court's decision, emphasizing that bail is a discretionary concession and that the petitioner's conduct and the evidence against him precluded his release.
- Does the acquittal of a co-accused constitute a valid ground for the grant of bail to an absconding petitioner?
- Can advanced age and frail health justify the grant of bail for a petitioner who has absconded for a significant period?
- Does a long period of abscondance, when coupled with incriminating witness statements, constitute reasonable grounds to deny bail under the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898?
- Section 497, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
ORDER
QAZI MUHAMMAD AMIN AHMED, J.--- Abdul Latif, deceased, along with Muhammad Hanif and Hafiz Muhammad Rafique, PWs, was on way to attend Court proceedings on 22.12.2004 when at 8:15 p.m. within the remit of Police Station City Dera Ismail Khan, Ghulam Abbas petitioner, on a motorbike, driven by co-accused, subsequently identified as Iftikhar Ahmed, intercepted the entourage; repeated fire shots fatally hit the deceased while Muhammad Hanif PW survived the gunshot. Previous blood feud is cited as motive for the crime.
Petitioner stayed away from the law and was finally arrested on 14.1.2020; co-accused was acquitted during his absence.
2. Heard. Record perused.
3. Acquittal of co-accused, initially arrayed as unknown, has not been received as a valid ground for petitioner's release on bail, both by the Court of Session as well as the High Court, a view found by us as unexceptionable.
Similarly, petitioner's advanced age with health, statedly frail, albeit with no specific disorder cannot extenuate abscondance of almost 16 years having regard to the fatal role assigned to him. Statements of the witnesses including an injured supported by medical evidence constitute "reasonable grounds" within the contemplation of section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898, aggravated by petitioner's absence going on for an age, unsurmountably stand in impediment to his release on bail, a concession discretionary in nature. View taken by the High Court, being within the bounds of law, does not call for interference. Petition fails. Leave declined.
Cited by 1 case
- Syed GUL Versus State 2022 PCrLJN 119