FAISAL MUHAMMAD HASSAN and 2 others vs THE STATE
This matter arises from a criminal petition filed by the petitioners seeking post-arrest bail in F.I.R. No. 637 registered under sections 170, 171, 419, 420, 468, and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 at Police Station Gul Bahar, Peshawar. The core legal question concerns whether the petitioners are entitled to bail when the charged offences do not fall within the prohibitory clause of Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 and the investigation is complete. The court held that since the offences do not fall within the prohibitory clause and the petitioners are no longer required for investigation, withholding bail would serve as an advance punishment. The application was consequently allowed, directing the release of the petitioners on bail. The key principle laid down is that bail should not be withheld as punishment when offences fall outside the prohibitory clause and incarceration is no longer necessary for investigative purposes.
- Whether bail should be granted when the offences charged do not fall within the prohibitory clause of Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898?
- Can bail be withheld as a measure of advance punishment when the investigation of the case is complete?
- Does the lack of necessity for further custody during completed investigations justify the release of an accused on bail?
- Section 170, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 171, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 419, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 420, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 468, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 471, Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Section 497, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
' The petitioners stand involved in case F.I.R. No,637 registered at Police Station Gul Bahar on 19-8- 2003 at the instance of Muhammad Kamal Khan, S.H.O. For offences under sections 170/171/419/420/468/ 471, P.P.C. The petitioners submitted an application in the Court of Judicial Magistrate, Peshawar for grant of bail which was rejected vide order, dated 26-8-2003. The prayer of the petitioners for release on bail was also turned down by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Peshawar by virtue of his order, dated 30-8-2003. The petitioners have approached this Court with the similar prayer and in support of the bail application it is submitted by Mr. Fida Gul, Advocate that the petitioners have been falsely implicated in the case by the local police and there is no independent evidence, worth the name, to connect them with the guilt. The learned counsel also contended that the sections of law mentioned in the F.I.R. Under reference do not fall within the prohibitory clause of section 497, Cr.P.C. And this fact alone constitutes a good ground for release of the petitioners on bail. Additionally, it is urged that the petitioners are in jail eversince their arrest on 19-8-2003 and investigation of the case is almost complete and no useful purpose would be achieved in case they are detained in jail indefinitely. To substantiate the pleas, reliance has been placed on two cases captioned Badrey and 3 others v. State and another 2000 PCr.LJ 1914 (Peshawar) and Abdul Qadir v. The State 1987 PCr.LJ 582 (Lahore).
2. Conversely, Mst. Neelam Khan, Advocate appearing on behalf of the State, opposed the bail application and submitted that on the whole the material collected against the petitioners during the investigation is available with prosecution and on the basis of such material it cannot be said at that stage that there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the petitioners are prima facie not responsible for the offences in question.
3. Be that as it may, without highlighting merits of the case, I find that the petitioners are in jail eversince their arrest on 19-8-2003 and they are no more required for the purpose of investigation.
The sections of law with which the petitioners are charged do not fall under the prohibitory clause of section 497, Cr.P.C. And withholding of bail as a measure of advance punishment would neither promote the cause of justice nor object of law. The element of fraud or dishonesty on the part of the petitioners is yet to be discovered during the trial. Further, the investigation of the case is complete and challan of the case is likely to be put into the trial Court. The conclusion of trial of petitioners would obviously take some time. The application is allowed and the petitioners are directed to be released on bail provided they furnish bail Bonds each in the sum of Rs,1,00,000 with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of Judicial Magistrate, Peshawar who shall see that the sureties are local, reliable and men of means.