MUHAMMAD TARIQ MAHMOOD Versus State

ORDER

ABDUL SAMI KHAN, J.--- Through this petition under section 497, Cr.P.C. the petitioner has sought bail after arrest in case FIR No.53/10 dated 18.01.2010 under sections 324, 34, P.P.C., Police Station Ghulam Muhammadabad, District Faisalabad.

2. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the record of this case with their able assistance. This is bail after arrest and only tentative assessment is permissible at this stage. Although the petitioner is named in FIR, yet the fact remains that there is an unexplained delay of fifteen days in registration of the same, which prima facie shows that the FIR has been got registered after due deliberations and consultation. Even otherwise, the injury attributed to the present petitioner is on inner aspect of left thigh (middle part) of the complainant/injured and the petitioner has not repeated the fire, thus the question of the attraction of section 324, P.P.C. shall be determined by the learned trial court after recording prosecution evidence. The injury attributed to the petitioner has been declared as ghayr-jaifah-damihah falling under section 337F(i), P.P.C., which, carries maximum punishment upto one year as Ta'zir. It is settled law that maximum punishment is not to be considered while deciding the bail application and the sentence likely to be imposed is to be taken into consideration. The offence, with which the petitioner has been charged, is triable by Magistrate Section-30 who is competent to pass sentence upto seven years only. The investigation of the case is complete and the petitioner is no more required for further investigation. He was arrested in connection with this case on 21.08.2016, but his trial has not seen any fruitful progress as yet. Nobody can be kept in jail for an indefinite period.

3. For what has been discussed above, the case of the petitioner becomes one of further inquiry covered by subsection (2) of section 497, Cr.P.C. This petition is, therefore, allowed and the petitioner is granted bail subject to his furnishing bail bond in the sum of Rs.100,000/- (Rupees one hundred thousand only) with two sureties, each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial court.

4. The observations made above are tentative in nature and are strictly confined to the decision of this bail petition only.

WA/M-208/L Bail granted.