It is not denied that this Court, while disposing of the appeal as lodged by the petitioner, had not considered this aspect that whether the learned trial Court on sound principles had withheld the benefit provided under section 382B of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. and the judgment in this behalf is silent on the point. Under section 561-A,Cr.P.C., the Court has the inherent power to extend the benefit provided under section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, in appropriate cases even after the decision of the appeal. The only determining factor was to consider whether the learned trial court, which withheld the benefit provided under section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, had considered the relevant facts for withholding the said benefit.
Section 382-B, Cr.P.C. was added by the Law Reforms Ordinance, 1972. The word "shall" was substituted for the word "may" by the Code of Criminal Procedure (Second Amendment) Ordinance (Ordinance No. LXXI of 1979). This substitution by the word shall mean that this provision was mandatory and it was obligatory on the Courts to give this benefit to the accused who was awarded the sentence of imprisonment. This benefit was also available to a person who was awarded death sentence by the trial court but subsequently the same was reduced to life imprisonment. A legal valuable right has been conferred upon the accused after the amendment of section 382-B, Cr.P.C., and this right cannot be ignored or refused. Needless to add that the object of granting this benefit under section 382-B Cr.P.C is to compensate the accused for the unnecessary delay that had been caused in the commencement and the conclusion of his trial. Therefore, the Courts must take into consideration the period that the accused spends in jail prior to his conviction. The present petitioner, therefore, after the sentence of death awarded to petitioner namely Naseer Ahmad son of Allah Din under section 302(b) P.P.C. was altered to imprisonment for life, was entitled to get the benefit provided under section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, from this Court. The provisions of section 382-B, Cr.P.C., have undergone scrutiny by the superior Courts and have been interpreted in a plethora of cases.
W.P. No.4822 of 2022
Naseer Ahmad. VS. The State and two others.
21-06-2022
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