ISLAMABAD  -     Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa on Friday hinted the court could review rules for grant of pre-arrest bail in criminal cases.  The chief justice, who headed a three-member bench of the apex court, rejected an appeal seeking to revoke the bail before arrest of a suspect in a robbery case.

The suspect had obtained bail from a high court. Subsequently, the complainant approached the top court seeking cancellation of his bail.

During the course of proceedings, the Chief Justice remarked that the criminal law doesn’t allow pre-arrest bail. “There is a need to review the rules with regard to pre-arrest bail in criminal cases,” he added.  He recalled bail before arrest was first granted in the Hidayatullah case in 1949 so that a respectable person might not be implicated in a case.

The Chief Justice remarked that the question is whether the court should protect dignity of a person or not. He observed that the Hidayatullah case had surfaced in 1949, adding that pleas for pre-arrest bail are filed in every case.