Mir BARKAT ALI And Another vs The STATE
This appeal by Mir Barkat Ali and Retired Subedar Abdul Majeed challenges the judgment of the High Court of Baluchistan, which dismissed their revision petition against the forfeiture of their surety bonds. The appellants stood sureties for the appearance of an accused before the Assistant Commissioner, Dalbandin, in a case under the Arms Ordinance. After the accused was initially convicted and sentenced to a fine, the High Court set aside the conviction on a suo motu reference, holding the trial was without jurisdiction, and remanded the case to the Sessions Judge, Quetta. Upon the accused failing to appear and absconding to Afghanistan, the Sessions Judge initiated proceedings under Section 514-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 and forfeited the surety bonds. The core legal question is whether sureties are liable for the non-appearance of an accused in a court other than the specific court named in the bail bond. The Supreme Court held that the appellants undertook to produce the accused only before the Assistant Commissioner and were not liable for his non-appearance in the Sessions Court. The appeal was accordingly allowed and the forfeiture orders were set aside.
- Are sureties liable for the non-appearance of an accused in a court different from the specific court mentioned in the terms of the bail bond?
- Whether forfeiture of surety bonds can be sustained under Section 514-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 when the accused fails to appear before a transferee court after a remand?
- Section 13-E, Arms Ordinance
- Section 514-A, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
MUHAMMAD RAFIQ TARAR, J---This appeal by Mir Barkat Ali and Retired Subedar Abdul Majeed calls in question the judgment of the High Court of Baluchistan dated 17-11-1991 whereby their revision petition against the order of the learned. Sessions Judge, Quetta dated 21-9-1991, forfeiting their surety bonds and directing them to deposit Rs.1,00,000 each, was dismissed.
2. The brief facts of the case are that the appellants stood sureties in the sum of Rs.1,00,000 each in the Court of Assistant Commissioner, Dalbandin for appearance of one Abdul Qayyum who was accused of an offence under section 13-E of the Arms Ordinance. On the dates of hearing he remained before the Court and was ultimately convicted of the said offence and sentenced to a fine of Rs.7,000 only. Later on the Baluchistan High Court in Suo Motu reference set aside the order of the Assistant Commissioner holding it to be illegal as the minimum sentence provided for the 'offence in question was three years' imprisonment. The case was remanded to the learned Sessions Judge, Quetta for trial according to law vide order dated 12-9-1990. The learned Sessions Judge issued process to aforementioned Abdul Qayyum for appearance before him but, he was reported to have gone to Afghanistan and, therefore, remained un-served. He accordingly issued notice under section 514-A of the Cr.P.C. To the appellants and after hearing them forfeited their bonds and directed them to deposit the surety amount.
3. Learned counsel for the appellants contends that according to the terms of the bail bonds the appellants had undertaken to produce the accused in the Court of Assistant Commissioner/SDM, Dalbandin, only and before no other Court, therefore, they were not liable in any manner for his non-appearance' in the Sessions Court. He submits that the Courts below have completely ignored the terms of bail bonds and arrived at conclusion which on the face of it is unsustainable. He further submits that according to the Court below the Assistant Commissioner/SDM, Delbandin had no jurisdiction in the matter, therefore, any bail bond submitted before him was of no consequence and could not be enforced. The learned Advocate-General is not in a position to controvert the submissions made by the learned counsel for the appellants and finds himself unable to support the impugned orders.
In the circumstances this appeal is allowed and the impugned orders of the Courts below referred to above are set aside.