Mst. FAZEELAT BIBI vs KARAM KHAN And Other
This matter originated as a petition for leave to appeal filed by the widow of the deceased against an order of the Lahore High Court, which had granted post-arrest bail to the respondent, Karam Khan, in a murder case. The core legal question before the Supreme Court was whether the High Court exercised its discretion judicially in granting bail, given the circumstances of the offence. The prosecution alleged that the accused party, including the respondent, intercepted a police vehicle, disarmed police constables, and pursued the deceased into his father's house to commit the murder. The Supreme Court held that the High Court's reasoning for granting bail—specifically that the respondent arrived in a second batch and was not the one who fired the fatal shot—was untenable. The Court emphasized that the incident demonstrated extreme lawlessness and total disregard for law enforcement agencies. Consequently, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court's order, and cancelled the bail granted to the respondent, ordering him to be taken into custody immediately.
- Whether the High Court's reasoning for granting bail based on the accused's arrival in a second batch and lack of attribution of the fatal shot is legally tenable?
- Does an incident involving the disarming of police guards and the pursuit of a victim into a private residence constitute grounds for refusing bail?
- Can the Supreme Court cancel bail granted by the High Court if the reasoning provided for the grant is found to be untenable?
ORDER
ASLAM RIAZ HUSSAIN, J.--Mst. Fazeelat Bibi, widow of Bashir Ahmad has filed this petition for leave to appeal against the grant of bail to Karam Khan (respondent No. 1), by a learned Single Judge of the Lahore High Court, vide its order, dated 1-3-1986.
2. We have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and gone through the relevant portion of the evidence on the record. The prosecution version is that there was old hostility between Bashir Ahmad (deceased) and the accused party. Bashir Ahmad was involved in a criminal case for the murder of a member of the accused-respondent party. He had been taken by two police constablesnamely Muhammad Saeed and Muhammad Ilyas, for producing him in the Court of Assistant Commissioner, Shakargarh, in connection with his trial. After the hearing he was being transported back in a wagon. When it reached Bus Stop Manzoorpura Plot, where some passengers got down from it, all of a sudden the accused persons including Karam Khan respondent No. 1 came in front of the wagon and forced Bashir Ahmad (deceased) and the two police constables to come out. All the three persons got down from the wagon and the accused-respondents placed guns at the necks of the police guards and snatched away their rifles. Although. Bashir Ahmad was in hand-cuffs, yet he managed to escape and ran into the house of his father which was situated nearby. The accused pursued him, broke open the house and killed him. The accused were subsequently arrested and applied for grant of bail which was refused to them by the learned Sessions Judge, Sialkot. The High Court, however, granted bail to Karam Khan respondent No. 1.
3. The main ground for granting bail to the respondent was that the accused are said to have come in two batches and that Karam Khan has come in the second batch and the fatal shot was attributed to Zafar Khan accused.
4. On considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the material on the record we are of the view that the reasoning of the High Court in this case for grant of bail to the respondent is not tenable. Even otherwise, considering the nature of the offence committed by the accused- respondent as described by the learned Sessions Judge, Sialkot, while refusing bail to the accused, It is an outstanding example of extreme lawlessness in total disregard 9f the Law Enforcing Agencies'. We feel that the respondent in this case did not deserve to be released on bail.
5. In view of the above discussion we convert this petition into appeal and allow the same.
The bail granted to Karam Khan respondent is, therefore, cancelled and he shall be taken into custody forthwith.
Cited by 2 cases
- GHULAM NABI and anothers vs THE STATE 1989 P Cr. L J 126
- TALIB HUSSAIN vs MUHAMMAD TUFAIL And Another 1987 P Cr. L J 176