LIAQUAT ALI vs Mst. BASHIRAN BIBI and another

Liaquat Ali petitioned for leave to appeal against an order of the Lahore High Court dated 20-10-1993, which granted post-arrest bail to Mst. Bashiran Bibi respondent in a criminal case registered under the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979. The High Court had granted bail on the basis that the respondent, being a woman, fell within the protective ambit of the first proviso to section 497(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. Upon hearing the petitioner's counsel, the Supreme Court of Pakistan found no valid ground to interfere with the discretionary bail order passed by the High Court. Consequently, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition for leave to appeal, affirming the exercise of judicial discretion in favor of the female accused under the statutory exception.