Bilal Ahmed vs State and another
This petition concerns a request for post-arrest bail by the petitioner, Bilal Ahmed, who was charged under Section 489-F of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 in connection with the dishonour of a cheque amounting to Rs. 10,000,000. The core legal question before the Lahore High Court was whether the petitioner was entitled to the concession of post-arrest bail given the nature of the offence and the evidentiary status of the case. The Court held that the prosecution's case rested entirely on documentary evidence already in its possession, eliminating any risk of tampering. Furthermore, the Court determined that the offence under Section 489-F does not fall within the prohibitory clause of Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898. Consequently, the Court granted bail, reiterating the established legal principle that in cases falling outside the prohibitory clause, the grant of bail is the rule and refusal is the exception. The Court emphasized that the mere involvement of a large financial amount does not constitute sufficient grounds to deny bail, absent exceptional circumstances.
- Does an offence under Section 489-F of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 fall within the prohibitory clause of Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898?
- Is the involvement of a large financial amount sufficient ground to refuse post-arrest bail in a case involving a dishonoured cheque?
- Should bail be granted when the prosecution's case is based entirely on documentary evidence already in its possession?
- Section 489-F, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 497, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
ORDER
Through the instant petition, the petitioner Bilal Ahmed seeks post arrest bail in case FIR No. 151/2021 dated 21.03.2021, of fence under Section 489-F , PPC, registered at Police Station Phalia, District Mandi Bahauddin.
2. Arguments heard. Record perused.
3. As per brief allegations levelled in the FIR, a cheque amounting to Rs. 1,00,00,0 00/-, issued by the petitioner to the complainant was dishonoured on presentation by the concerned bank, hence the abovementioned FIR.
4. The entire prosecution case is based on documentary evidence (dishonoured cheque and bank slip), which is already in possession of the prosecution and as such there is no chance of tampering with the same, therefore, in such circumstances no useful purpose will be served by keeping the petitioner behind the bars. Reference in this respect may be made to the case of Saeed Ahmad v. The State (1996 SCMR 1132). Furthermore, the punishment provided for the offence under Section 489-F , PPC is imprisonment, which may extend to three years. The offence mentioned in the FIR does not fall within the ambit of prohibitory clause of Section 497, Cr.P.C. and grant of bail in such like cases is a rule while refusal is an exception. Mere involvement of huge amount is no ground to refuse bail to the petitioner . Reference in this context may be made to the case of Riaz Jafar Natiq v. Muhammad Nadeem Dar and others (2011 SCMR 1708 ). Thus, keeping in view the law laid down in the cases of Zafar Iqbal v.
Muhammad Anwar and others (2009 SCMR 1488 ) and "Muhammad Tanveer v. The State and another" (PLD 2017 Supreme Court 733), ordaining that where a case falls within non-prohibitory clause, the concession of granting bail must favorably be considered and should only be declined in exceptional cases and because no exceptional ground has been pointed out by learned Additional Prosecutor General or learned counsel for the complainant to refuse bail to the petitioner , therefore, the instant petition is allowed and the petitioner is admitted to post-arrest bail subject to his furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs. 10,00,000/- (Rupees one million only) with two sureties in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court.