Find a Lawyer

Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 48/B of 1987, decided on 21st January, 1987.

‑‑‑S. 497‑‑Penal Code (XLV of 1860), Ss. 302 & 307/34‑‑Bail, grant of‑ Case registered on statement of deceased‑‑Alleged motive of occurrence, found not correct during investigation‑‑Eye‑witnesses also found to have not witnessed occurrence‑‑Eye‑witnesses and recovery witnesses not supporting prosecution‑‑Accused placed in column No. 2 of challan‑‑Prosecution evidence on record not unequivocally establishing accused guilty of offence imputed to him‑‑Bail granted in circumstances.

Raja Muhammad Anwar, Ch. Asghar Ali, Muhammad Aziz Qureshi, Muhammad Ashraf Azim and Hassan Ahmad Khan Kanwar for Petitioner.

Syed Noorul Hassan Rizvi for the State.

This is a petition under section 498, Cr.P.C. by Shafique Ahmad, petitioner, for bail in respect of a case instituted against him and one other under section 302/307/34, P.P.C. at Police Station Ichhra, Lahore on 6‑ 10‑ 1986.

2. The prosecution case which stands recorded on the statement of Mst Batool Akhtar, deceased, herself, within forty minutes of the occurrence, is to the effect that on 6‑10‑1986 at 7‑30 p.m. when she was standing outside the Fatima Memorial Hospital, Shadman Road, Lahore, her maternal uncle Shafique Ahmad, petitioner, and her real brother, Ghulam Mohy‑ud‑Din, co‑accused, both riding a motor‑cycle, drove up towards her. On reaching her both stated that she would not escape alive. When she raised an alarm, both of them started assaulting her. On hearing her cries, Nisar Hussain Shah son of Zahid Hussain Shah and Mueen‑ud‑Din son of Subhan Khan P.Ws. turned up, by which time Shafique Ahmad, petitioner, took out his revolver and fired a shot on her, which shot hit her on her neck, as a result of which she fell down. Both the said accused then flee away on the motor‑cycle. The motive for the occurrence was that Mst. Batool Akhtar, deceased, had married one Capt. Zahid Pervaiz against the wishes of her parents and the accused. She finally submitted that she was brought to the hospital by the said Nisar Hussain Shah and Mueen‑ud‑Din P.Ws.

3. Mst. Batool Akhtar died in the Services Hospital, Lahore on 21‑ 10‑ 1986.

4. I have heard the arguments of the learned counsel for the petitioner and the State and., have perused the police file. Mr. Muhammad Aslam Lodhi, D.S.P., Ichhra, who conducted the investigation, found that the deceased had not married against the wishes of her parents, as both her father, Mr. Hassan Ahmad Khan Kanwar, Advocate, and her maternal uncle, Shafique Ahmad, petitioner, were witnesses to the Nikah. He also found that Nisar Hussain Shah and Mueen‑ud‑Din P.Ws. whom the deceased claimed to be the eye‑witnesses, had not witnessed the occurrence, according to the depositions made by them before a Magistrate under section 164, Cr.P.C. which depositions they had furnished to him. He also found that the two recovery witnesses of the revolver had also disowned having witnessed the said recovery and that no person living around or about the place of occurrence had witnessed the occurrence. In this view of the matter, he placed the name of Shafique Ahmad in column No. 3, with a rider that his innocence may be left for determination by the Court. In view of the fact that Nisar Hussain Shah and Mueen‑ud‑Din P.Ws., who are the eye‑witnesses, and Shabbir Hussain and Maqsood Ahmad P.M., who are the recovery witnesses, are not supporting the case and the Investigating Officer has already found material contradictions in the statement of the deceased, the question whether the statement (now the dying declaration) of Mst. Batool Akhtar, deceased, will unequivocally' establish the case at the trial, is one which will have to be determined by the trial Court. Presently, the evidence with the prosecution does not unequivocally establish that the petitioner is guilty of the offence imputed to him.

5. For the foregoing reasons, this petition is accepted and Shafique Ahmed, petitioner, is released on bail, subject to his furnishing security in the sum of Rupees thirty thousand (Rs.30,000) with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner/Duty Magistrate, Model Town, Lahore.

S.A./S-41/L Bail granted.

Find a Lawyer Near You

Dealing with a matter like this? Connect with a verified advocate in your city — free on SJP Lawyers Directory.