Pakistan Case Law
2021 SCMR 1016

Ahmad Khalid Butt vs The State and another

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Citation2021 SCMR 1016
CourtSupreme Court of Pakistan
Case No.Criminal Petition No. 193 of 2021
Date2021-04-12
Judge(s)Manzoor Ahmad Malik,Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Amin ud Din Khan
Authored byManzoor Ahmad Malik
ResultBail granted
AI Summary — generated from this judgment; read the full text below and verify before relying on it.

This criminal petition arises from the refusal of post-arrest bail by the Islamabad High Court to the petitioner, who was charged under sections 20, 21, and 24 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, read with sections 34 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860. The core legal question before the Supreme Court was whether the petitioner was entitled to the concession of bail given the nature of the offences and the duration of his incarceration. Upon review, the Court observed that the alleged offences did not fall within the prohibitory clause of section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, as the maximum punishments involved were three and five years respectively. Furthermore, the petitioner was not the principal accused and had been detained for approximately four months. Consequently, the Court converted the petition into an appeal, allowed it, and granted bail to the petitioner. The judgment reinforces the established legal principle that in non-prohibitory offences, the grant of bail is the rule and refusal is an exception, absent exceptional circumstances.

Questions settled in this judgment
  • Does the grant of bail constitute the rule in cases involving offences that fall outside the prohibitory clause of section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898?
  • Is a petitioner entitled to bail when they are not the principal accused and the alleged offences carry a maximum punishment of three to five years?
  • Can bail be refused in cases where the offences do not fall within the prohibitory clause absent exceptional circumstances?
Laws & provisions referred
  • Section 20, Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016
  • Section 21, Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016
  • Section 24, Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016
  • Section 34, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
  • Section 109, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
  • Section 497, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
post-arrest bailprohibitory clausecyber crimenon-bailable offencescriminal appealbail discretion

ORDER

MANZOOR AHMAD MALIK, J.---Petitioner has impugned the order dated 03.02.2021 whereby bail was refused to him by the learned Islamabad High Court, Islamabad, in case FIR No.26 dated 29.12.2020, offence under sections 20, 21, 24 of PECA, 2016 read with sections 34,109, P.P.C., registered at Police Station FIA, Cyber Crime, Islamabad.

2. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties at length and perusal of available record, it has been observed by us that the offences alleged in the FIR fall outside the prohibitory clause of section 497, Code of Criminal Procedure, maximum punishment whereo f is five years and three years respectiv ely. The petitioner is behind the bars for the last about four months. Even as per contents of FIR, he is not the principal accused. Grant of bail in such like cases is a rule and refusal an exception. No exceptional circumstances have been pointed out to refuse the concession of bail to the petitioner .

3. For the foregoing, the instant criminal petition is converted into an appeal and the same is hereby allowed. The appellant Ahmad Khalid Butt is allowed bail (in the instant FIR) subject to his furnishing bail bond in the sum of Rs.100,000/- (one hundred thousand) with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial court.

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