—Bail after arrest, grant of--Allegation of--Recovery of charas--On seeing police party fled away from spot whereas his wife was apprehended; that upon her personal search charas weighing 2200 grams was recovered-

 PLJ 2022 Cr.C. (Note) 45

Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 (V of 1898)--

----S. 417--Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997 (XXV of 1997),
S. 9(c)—Bail after arrest, grant of--Allegation of--Recovery of charas--On seeing police party fled away from spot whereas his wife was apprehended; that upon her personal search charas weighing 2200 grams was recovered--Petitioner got registered a criminal case SI under Section 376, PPC, which is still pending--A reasonable inference can be drawn from pendency of above mentioned FIR that petitioner was having background of hostility with police officials--Another factor discernible from record which adversely reflects upon case of prosecution--Another FIR under Section 9(c) of Control of Narcotics Substance Act, 1997 was registered at Police Station Cantt against husband of petitioner--Defence put forth by petitioner of having been implicated in case due to enmity with police have some shred of truth in it--Petition allowed.

                                                                        [Para 2, 5 & 6] A, B & C

Hafiz Muhammad Abu Bakar Ansari, Advocate for Petitioner.

Syed Nadeem Haider Rizvi, Deputy Prosecutor General Punjab for State.

Date of hearing: 1.10.2020.

 PLJ 2022 Cr.C. (Note) 45
[Lahore High Court, Multan Bench, Multan]
Present: Ch. Abdul Aziz, J.
Mst. ASIA BIBI--Petitioner
versus
STATE and another--Respondents
Crl. Misc. No. 5638-B of 2020, decided on 1.10.2020.

Order

Mst. Asia Bibi (petitioner) seeks bail after arrest in case-FIR No. 655 dated 15.07.2020, registered under Section 9(c) of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997 at Police Station Multan Cantt.

2. Precisely stated the case of prosecution as gleans from the crime report is to the effect that on 15.07.2020 at about 6:00 a.m. Altaf Hussain SI along with police officials was on patrolling duty at Khan plaza; that he received spy information that Ghulam Murtaza Shah and his wife Asia Bibi were selling charas while boarding motorcycle; that raid was conducted and on seeing the police party Ghulam Murtaza Shah fled away from the spot whereas his wife Mst. Asia Bibi was apprehended; that upon her personal search charas weighing 2200 grams was recovered.

3. Arguments heard and record perused.

4. It evinces from the perusal of record that petitioner stands arrested in the case with the allegation of having been found in possession of 2200 grams of charas. There is no cavil to the proposition that persons dealing in narcotics deserve no leniency as they have not only destroyed our generation but also spoiled the social fabric. At the same time it goes without saying that fate of every criminal case is to be decided on the basis of available record without being driven by sentiments and emotions.

5. In the wake of facts mentioned above, record of the case is perused with utmost circumspection and it is noticed that in March, 2017 petitioner got registered a criminal case vide FIR No. 70/17 against Muhammad Ashfaq SI under Section 376, PPC, which is still pending. A reasonable inference can be drawn from the pendency of the above mentioned FIR that the petitioner was having background of hostility with the police officials. There is yet another factor discernible from the record which adversely reflects upon the case of prosecution. In this regard it is noticed that another FIR No. 665/2020 under Section 9(c) of the Control of Narcotics Substance Act, 1997 was registered at Police Station Cantt on 16.07.2020 against husband of petitioner namely Syed Ghulam Murtaza with the allegation of having been arrested while in possession of 2 K.g of charas. In the said FIR husband of petitioner was shown to be boarding vehicle registration No. BED/113 and statedly recovery was effected on 16.07.2020. With the instant petition record of the Extreme Track company is annexed from which it evinces that from 14.07.2020 at 4:54 p.m. the vehicle is parked in the office of DSP Multan Cantt.

6. From the facts mentioned above, it prima facie appears that the defence put forth by the petitioner of having been implicated in the case due to enmity with the police have some shred of truth in it. For the foregoing reasons the request of petitioner for her entitlement to bail, appears to have some force. Resultantly; the instant petition is allowed and petitioner is admitted to post arrest bail subject to furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs. 5,00,000/- with two sureties in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court.

(A.A.K.)          Bail allowed