Whether a convicted prisoner undergoing sentence of imprisonment is entitled to remissions of the period during which he was on bail?

A bare reading of the Rule 35 of the Pakistan Prisons Rules, 1978 makes it clear that the period which is not to be counted as sentence served is the period which an accused spends out of prison and is not again committed to prison. 8. Coming to the second question as to whether a convicted prisoner undergoing sentence of imprisonment is entitled to remissions of the period during which he was on bail, the clear fallacy of the approach made by the learned counsel for the petitioner can be demonstrated through an illustration. “An accused was tried for an offence under section 380 PPC. During trial period, he was allowed to remain on bail and the trial prolonged up to, say 3 years. Finally the Court convicted him and sentenced him to imprisonment for three years. Should not the convicted person go to jail at all on the premise that he was on bail for three years and is hence entitled to remission of that period”?

Yet another illustration can be shown by stretching the above illustration a little further. If the aforesaid convicted person filed an appeal and got his sentence suspended by the appellate Court and the appellate Court confirmed the conviction and sentence after a period of three years, is he entitled to claim that he need not go to jail at all as he was on bail for more than three years during the post-conviction stage also? If it is to be held that he is entitled to such remission, I am afraid; the criminal justice system would be reduced to a mockery. The absurdity of the claim of the petitioner can thus be demonstrated.

Neither the period during which son of the petitioner Muhammad Hanif convict remained on bail after being released from jail can be considered as the sentence served by him nor he is entitled to remissions of the period during which he was on bail.

Criminal Proceedings
69955/21
Nasreem Akhtar Siddiqui Vs Govt of Punjab etc
Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar 22-11-2022
2022 LHC 7905