MUHAMMAD ISMAIL vs MUHAMMAD RAFIQ and another
This petition for leave to appeal was filed seeking the cancellation of bail granted to respondent No. 1 in a murder case registered under section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860. The core legal questions raised concern whether superior courts follow an established practice of not granting or cancelling bail when a trial is set to commence shortly, and whether the dismissal of an earlier bail application on merits by a High Court judge bars a subsequent bail grant based on a subsequent investigating officer's opinion finding the accused innocent, particularly under subsection (2) of section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898. The Supreme Court granted leave to appeal to examine these questions, holding that the matter requires detailed consideration and directing the appeal to be fixed for hearing before May 1989. The key principle relates to the evaluation of successive bail applications and the weight to be attached to differing police investigation reports alongside prior judicial determinations on merits.
- Whether it is an established practice of the superior courts not to grant or cancel bail in a murder case when its trial is to commence within a short time and the date has been fixed?
- Whether the dismissal of the earlier bail application of an accused on merits by the same judge acts as a bar to the grant of bail on a subsequent application?
- Whether the view of a subsequent police investigator finding the accused innocent should prevail over earlier considerations for the purposes of subsection (2) of section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898?
- Section 302, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 497(2), Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
ORDER
1. ' MUHAMMAD AFZAL ZULLAH, J.--After hearing the learned counsel in support of this petition for leave to appeal seeking cancellation of bail granted to respondent No,1 in a case under section 302, P.P.C., we consider it proper to grant the same so as to examine:
(a) Whether it is an established practice of the superior Courts not to grant or cancel bail in a murder case, when its trial is to commence within a short time and the date has been fixed; and
(b) Whether the dismissal of the earlier bail application of respondent No,1 on merits by the same learned Judge, would not be a bar to the grant of bail on a subsequent application; mainly, on the ground that another investigating officer found the accused innocent in other words whether for purposes of subsection (2) of section 497, Cr.P.C. And for other similar considerations, the view of the subsequent police investigator or the earlier opinion expressed by a Judge of the High Court on merits, would prevail.
2. ' Leave to appeal accordingly is granted.
3. ' The appeal shall be fixed for hearing before May, 1989.