Pakistan Case Law
1986 SCMR 1380

MUHAMMAD RAMZAN vs ZAFAR ULLAH And Another

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Citation1986 SCMR 1380
CourtSupreme Court of Pakistan
Case No.Criminal Petition for Special Leave to Appeal No. 15 of 1986 Cr. Misc. No.
Date1986-03-19
Judge(s)Aslam Riaz Hussain and Muhammad Afzal Zullah
Authored byMuhammad Afzal Zullah
ResultPetition dismissed
AI Summary — generated from this judgment; read the full text below and verify before relying on it.

This matter concerns a petition for leave to appeal against a judgment of the Lahore High Court, which granted pre-arrest bail to the respondent in a murder case. The core legal question was whether the grant of pre-arrest bail to the respondent was legally sustainable, particularly when other co-accused persons, who were similarly placed and attributed no specific role in the physical injuries to the victims, had already been granted bail after arrest. The Supreme Court of Pakistan declined to interfere with the High Court's decision. The Court held that since the petitioner had not challenged the bail granted to other co-accused persons who occupied the same category as the respondent, cancelling the respondent's bail on technical grounds would serve no useful purpose. The Court reasoned that if the respondent were arrested, he would inevitably be entitled to bail again on the principle of consistency, given that similarly situated co-accused were already at liberty. Consequently, the petition for leave to appeal was dismissed, affirming the High Court's order.

Questions settled in this judgment
  • Should bail be cancelled on technical grounds if the accused would be entitled to bail again due to the status of similarly placed co-accused?
  • Is a petition for leave to appeal maintainable against a bail order where the petitioner has failed to challenge the bail of similarly situated co-accused?
pre-arrest bailbail cancellationmurder caseconsistency in bailleave to appealco-accused

MUHAMMAD AFZAL ZULLAH, J.--Leave to appeal has been sought from judgment dated 10-11-1985 of the Lahore High Court; whereby in a case of murder, Zafar Ullah Khan respondent was allowed bail before arrest.

2. The case of murder was initially instituted against seven persons. The majority of them were not attributed any specific role in so far as the physical injuries to the victims are concerned.

Accordingly, in this category the respondent was allowed bail before arrest and some others were allowed bail after arrest. The petitioner has chosen not to challenge the grant of bail after arrest to the other persons falling in the same category to which the respondent belongs. The distinction made according to the learned counsel, is based on the fact that he has been allowed bail before arrest.

3. After hearing the learned counsel we feel that prima facie, at this stage, the case of the petitioner is not distinguishable from that of others to whom bail has been allowed. No useful purpose would be served if the bail of Zafar Ullah Khan respondent is cancelled on any technical ground because after arrest he would again be allowed bail on the ground that similarly placed other accused are already on bail. We, therefore, in the circumstances of this case, do not consider it a fit case for grant of leave to appeal. This petition accordingly, is dismissed.

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