ISLAMABAD - Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Sunday ruled that there is no legal or moral compulsion to keep the people in prison merely on allegation that they have committed offences punishable with death or transportation, unless reasonable grounds exist to disclose their complicity.
A division bench of the IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri said in its detailed judgement while describing the reasons for granting post-arrest bail to petitioners including Taha Raza, Hussain Lawai and Muhammad Umair.
It was June 8 when through a short order, the IHC bench had admitted post-arrest bail of the petitioners’ subject to furnishing of bail bonds of Rs10,00,000 each with one surety each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial court.
The judegment said, “We are of the opinion that petitioners are entitled to the relief, particularly in view of the principles and law laid down in the cases of Dinshaw Hoshang Anklesaria vs National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and “Muhammad Jehangir Badr vs the State and others.”
It noted that prosecution has not been able to satisfy us that the inordinate delay in conclusion of trial is not partly attributed to it. It is important to remember that bail is not to be withheld as a punishment. There is no legal or moral compulsion to keep the people in jail merely on allegation that they have committed offences punishable with death or transportation, unless reasonable grounds exist to disclose their complicity.
The verdict concluded, “The ultimate conviction and incarceration of guilty person can repair the wrong caused by a mistaken relief of bail after arrest granted to him, but no satisfactory reparation can be offered to an innocent man for his unjustified incarceration at any stage of the case albeit his acquittal in the long run.”
Hussain Lawai was arrested on 23-06-2018, Taha Raza on 06-07-2018 and Muhammad Umair on 05-04-2019. Cases against them were registered due to suspicious transaction report regarding 29 accounts.
The IHC bench said that during the course of investigation, the NAB has not collected any independent evidence against Taha Raza. It noted that there is a statement of co-accused only and such statement is inadmissible under Article 38 of Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984.
Regarding Hussain Lawai, the IHC noted that it is an admitted fact that the petitioner/accused is 76 years of age; he is behind the bars for the last about three years. The reference No13/2019 was filed against him on 13.07.2019 and charge was framed on 10.08.2020, ie, after one year of the filing of reference. The petitioner is suffering from multiple health issues; his X-ray and MRI reports show that he had vertebral body fracture with retropulsion of vertebral body into spinal cord, CT scan of chest, abdomen and pelvis shows compression fracture of T12 vertebral body.
The court said that as far as petitioner/accused Muhammad Umair is concerned, he is behind the bars for last more than two years; prima facie no incriminating evidence is collected by the NAB against him; allegedly, he was an office boy and someone has misused his credentials and opened an account in his name.
