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Criminal Petition for Special Leave to Appeal No. 22‑R of 1978, decided on 17th May 1978

(On appeal from the order of the High Court of Sind, Karachi, dated 2nd April 1978, in Criminal Bail Application No: 110 of 1978).

‑‑‑ S. 498‑Bail‑Respondents and accused R charged for causing death of step‑mother of accused R and one ‑man M‑‑Prosecution case Accused R's mother having illicit relations with deceased M, R with aid of other respondents murdered both‑First Information Report''" mentioning respondents as having given hatchet blows to h[‑ ‑ Deceased M found to have suffered three continuous incised wounds on back of neck‑Injuries, held, appeared to be work of one man, all of them being on same spot‑High Court's observation that both deceased appeared to have been murdered by accused R as karo (due to ghairat) and rejecting R's application for bail but allowing bail to other respondents. held further, unexceptionable in circumstances.

Agha Aziz Ahmad, Advocate and Ch. Akhtar Ali, Advocate‑on‑Record for Petitioner.

Nemo for Respondents,

Date of hearing : 17th May 1978.

.‑This leave petition, which is directed against the order dated 2‑4‑1978 of the High Court of Sind, Karachi, arises in the following circumstances:

In consequence of the twin murders of Mst. Sharmnaz, the step mother of accused Rajab and of deceased Muharram, the four respondents herein, alongwith the said Rajab, were arrested under section 302/34/114, P. P. C. After their arrest all five of them tried to secure bail for themselves first from the Court of Sessions Judge, Larkana and thereafter from the High Court. In the Sessions Court, however, all of them failed but the High Court granted to the four respondents herein bail by the impugned order. But rejected the bail application of accused Rajah. Feeling aggrieved of the order of the High Court, the petitioner has come up to this Court seeking leave to appeal against it.

We have heard the learned counsel for petitioner.

There is no dispute that Mst. Sharmnaz, the step‑mother of accused Rajab (whose bail applica tion has been rejected by the High Court) and deceased Muharram, both were done to death for which the respondents and Rajab were accused. The case of prosecution is that Mst. Sharmnaz had illicit relations with deceased Muharram and so accused Rajab, with the aid of four respondents herein, murdered them. In the F. I. R., however, what was mentioned was that the respondents had given to Muharram hatchet blows. But according to Mr. Usman Ghani, the learned counsel who appeared in the High Court for the State, the deceased was found to have suffered three continuous incised wounds, bone deep, 7' x 5' x 4' on the back of his neck. But these injuries appeared to be the work of one man as these were on the same spot. Proceeding on this basis, the High Court, therefore, allowed to respondents herein bail‑observing that perhaps Mst. Sharmnaz and Muharram both had been murdered by accused Rajab as "Karo"‑i. e., due to Ghairat'. The learned counsel for petitioner has not been able to controvert the factual statement made by the learned counsel for the State in the High Court in B regard to the hatchet injuries suffered by deceased Muharram. In these circumstances, therefore, the impugned order of the High Court would seem to be unexceptionable.

The learned counsel, however, argued that in the impugned order the learned Judge in the High Court has made observations in regard to the merits of the case which is bound to prejudice the trial of the accused. There is no force in this contention. In any event the learned trial Judge would be in no way influenced by any observations made in the impugned order, as he would be deciding the case before him only on the basis of evidence and no other consideration.

This petition, therefore, fails and is dismissed.

Petition dismissed.

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