1987 SCMR 275

MUHAMMAD ASLAM Versus STATE

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Citation1987 SCMR 275

CourtSupreme Court of Pakistan

Case No.Criminal Petition for Special Leave to Appeal No. 363 of 1986

Date1986-12-23

Judge(s)Aslam Riaz Hussain, Javid Iqbal and Saad Saood Jan

Authored bySaad Saood Jan

ResultPetition dismissed

AI Summary — generated from this judgment; read the full text below and verify before relying on it.

This petition for special leave to appeal was filed against the order of the Lahore High Court, which had refused bail to the petitioner in a murder case registered under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860. The primary legal question before the Supreme Court of Pakistan was whether the High Court was justified in refusing post-arrest bail to an accused facing murder charges on grounds of criminal antecedents and abscondling. The Supreme Court declined to interfere with the High Court's order, noting that the petitioner was involved in multiple other criminal cases including theft, rape, criminal intimidation, and house trespass, and had previously absconded while co-accused remained at large. The Court upheld the trial court's finding that releasing the petitioner on bail was likely to hamper the progress of the trial. The key principle affirmed is that an accused person's history of abscondence, criminal antecedents, and the likelihood of obstructing trial proceedings are valid grounds to refuse bail in a capital offense.

Questions settled in this judgment

Whether previous abscondence and involvement in multiple other criminal cases constitute valid grounds to refuse bail in a murder case?
Can bail be denied where the release of the accused is likely to hamper the progress of the trial?
Will the Supreme Court interfere with a High Court order refusing bail when the accused has a history of absconding and criminal antecedents?

Laws & provisions referred

Section 302, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
Section 34, Pakistan Penal Code 1860

post-arrest bailrefusal of bailabscondencecriminal antecedentsSection 302 PPCmurderspecial leave to appeal

1. SAAD SAOOD JAN, J.‑‑ This is a petition for special leave to appeal from the order of the Lahore High Court whereby the petitioner's prayer for bail was refused. The petitioner is one of the accused person in a case under section 302, read with section 34, of the Pakistan Penal Code and the bail has been refused to him mainly on the ground that he is a desparate kind of person and is involved in a number of cases of theft, rape, criminal intimidation and house trespass. Further, he had earlier absconded and some of the accused are still at large. The Additional Sessions Judges who too had rejected his prayer for bail had observed that the progress of the case was likely to be hampered if he was released on bail. In the circumstances, we do not think that it is a fit case for this Court to interfere with the order of the High Court.

2. M.I. Petition dismissed.