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Criminal Appeal No. 5‑1 of 1971, decided on 29th October 1 974.
(On appeal from the judgment and order of the erstwhile High Court of Nest Pakistan, Lahore, dated 29‑7‑1970 in Criminal Miscellaneous No. 5291 of 1970).
__ ._ S. 526‑Transfer of criminal cases‑Leave to appeal granted to, consider question whether High Court acted with jurisdiction in' transferring complaint to itself before issuance of summons to accused‑Complaint being lodged in 1970 and since grant of leave to appeal complainant having assumed office of Ambassador of Pakistan in United Kingdom and accused appellant being appointed us Minister of .interior, neither complainant nor accused appearing to be interested in decision of appeal, no useful purpose, held, likely to be served by embarking upon determination of questions of law raised in petition for leave to appeal‑Complaint also likely to have been abandoned‑Appeal dismissed‑Penal Code (XLV of 1860), S. 500.
Captain Gohar Ayub's case P L D 1965 S C 496 ref.
Muhammad Shafi, Senior Advocate Supreme Court instructed by M. Nazar Khan, Advocate‑on‑Record for Appellant.
Ghulam Mujtaba, Advocate‑on‑Record for Respondent No. 1.
Riaz Ahmad, Assistant Advocate‑General, Punjab, instructed by Sh. Ija Advocate‑on‑Record for Respondent No. 2.
Date of hearing : 29th October 1974.
This appeal by special leave arises out of the order of a learned Single Judge of the erstwhile High Court of West Pakistan dated 29th July, 1970, whereby the complaint lodged by Mian Mumtaz Muhammad Khan Daultana, respondent herein, against Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, Barrister‑at‑Law, appellant, under section 500, . P. C. was transferred for trial to the High Court on its original side.
The complaint was lodged by the respondent on the 25th July, 1970, in the Court of the Assistant Commissioner, Lahore, who recorded the Preliminary statements of the complainant and his two witness on the 25th July 1970 and adjourned the hearing to 18th August 1970 for consideration whether the complainant had made out case for issuance of summons to the respondent. Simultaneously counsel for the respondent asked for stay of further proceedings on the ground that an the ground that an application for transfer of the case was being moved for trial of the complaint its the High Court.
On the following day, an application under section 526, Cr. P. C. was moved by the respondent in the High Court for transfer of the case to the original side of the Court on the ground that the complainant and the respon dent held high political and social status which required that the case may be heard by the 1‑sigh Court. A learned Single Judge accepted the application without issuing notice to the appellant and transferred the complaint for trial to the original side of the High Court.
Aggrieved by the above order of the High Court, the appellant obtained leave to appeal from the Court to consider whether the learned Judge had acted with jurisdiction in transferring the complaint to the High Court before it was decided to issue the summons to the accused. Reliance was placed on the decision of the Court in Captain Gohar Ayub's case (PLD1965SC496). It was further urged that the personal position of the parties in a criminal case did not constitute a valid ground for its withdrawal from the subordinate Court and trial by the High Court on the original side.
Since leave to appeal was obtained, the respondent has assumed the office of the Ambassador of Pakistan in U. K. and the appellant has been appointed Minister of Interior in the Federal Government of Pakistan, By this change, neither the complainant nor the accused appear to be interested any more in the decision of the appeal.
In the facts of the case, it will serve no useful purpose to embark upon determination of the questions of law raised in the order granting leave to appeal. Indeed it is likely that the complaint has since been abandoned by the respondent. The appeal is accordingly dismissed.
Appeal dismissed.
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