2026 YLR 134

Muhammad Riaz alias Bobi Versus State

Citation2026 YLR 134

CourtLahore High Court

Judge(s)Farooq Haider and Ali Zia Bajwa

Order

Through the instant petition filed under Section 497 Cr.P.C., the petitioner seeks his post-arrest bail in case FIR No.1849/2024, dated 25.08.2024, registered with Police Station B-Division, District Kasur under Section 9(1)-(3)(c) of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997 ("CNSA, 1997").

2. Precisely the allegation against the petitioner as per contents of the crime report is that on 25.08.2024, he was apprehended by the police party and at that time, he was found in possession of contraband charas weighing 1500 grams.

3. Arguments heard and the record perused.

4. Although the petitioner is named in the FIR with the allegation that contraband charas weighing 1500-grams was recovered from his possession, however, it is evident from the record that he is behind the bars for more than last one year and two months without any material progress in the trial. The report of trial court reflects that it is the prosecution which contributed to the delay in the conclusion of the trial as on several occasions, prosecution witnesses were not in attendance. In the case of "Sagheer Ahmad v. The State and another" (2024 SCMR 913), Supreme Court of Pakistan while taking into consideration, amongst others, non-conclusion of trial for a considerable period i.e. about more than seven months in a case of recovery of 1420-grams charas, has granted post-arrest bail while seeking guidance from the cases titled "Saeed Ahmad v. State through P.G. Punjab and another" (PLJ 2018 SC 812) and "Abbas Raza v. The State" (2020 (2020 SCMR 1859). The guilt of the petitioner would be determined by the trial court after recording of evidence.

5. The petitioner has been in custody since the time of his arrest. As the investigation has been completed and his physical custody is no longer required by the investigating agency for further probe, coupled with the fact that he has no previous conviction to his discredit, his continued incarceration serves no useful purpose at this stage.

6. Resultantly, the instant petition is allowed as a consequence whereof, the petitioner is admitted to bail after arrest, subject to his furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs.3,00,000/-(Rupees three hundred thousand only) with two sureties in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court.

MQ/M-186/L Bail granted.