IN THE HIGH COURT OF SINDH BENCH AT SUKKUR

Cr. Bail Application No. S- 110 of 2022.

Date	Order with signature of Judge

Applicant: Ali Gul son of Gul Hassan bycaste Jaffery.

State: Through Mr. Shafi Muhammad Mahar, Deputy Prosecutor General along with ASI Sikandar Ali Dahiri of Police Station Salehpat.

Date of hearing. 17.03.2022.

Date of decision. 17.03.2022.

O R D E R.

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AMJAD Ali SAHITO, J.- Through the instant Crl. Bail Application, applicant/accused named above seeks pre-arrest bail in Crime No. 03/2022, offence u/s 457, 380, 215 PPC registered at police Station Salehpat, District Sukkur. Prior to this applicant/accused filed pre arrest bail application, which was dismissed by learned Additional Sessions Judge-V, Sukkur vide order dated 18.02.2022, hence he filed the instant Bail Application.

2. The details and particulars of the F.I.R. are already available in the bail application and F.I.R., same could be gathered from the copy of F.I.R. attached with such application, hence needs not to reproduce the same hereunder.

3. Learned counsel for applicant/accused submits that applicant/accused is innocent and has falsely been implicated in this case; that the name of applicant/accused does not transpire in the FIR and no specific role has been attributed to him. He further contended that co-accused Gul Hassan has been granted bail by Judicial Magisrrate-II Rohri as such applicant/accused is entitled for confirmation of interim pre-arrest bail.

4. On the other hand, Mr. Shafi Muhammad Mahar, Deputy Prosecution General has vehemently opposed for confirmation of interim pre-arrest bail and submits that no mala fide or ill will has been pointed against the complainant to believe that applicant/accused has falsely been implicated in this case which is requirement for grant of pre-arrest bail. He further contended that foot trackers who tracked foot prints which led to the house of applicant/accused where father of applicant/accused informed that present applicant/accused is not present in the home and promised that they will return the buffalow within two days as such he is not entitled for confirmation of pre-arrest bail.

5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the material available on record.

6. From the perusal of record, it reflects that on the day of incident viz. 25.01.2022 at 5.00 a.m when complainant woke up and saw that his buffalo was missing and saw that face of hedge was opened, then complainant along with his relatives Ghulam Qasim and uncle Ali Khan tracked the hoof marks of buffaloes and foot marks of accused which led up to the house of accused but applicant/accused was not present and his father promised that he will return the buffalow. Investigating Officer Sikandar Ali Dahiri of Police Station Saleh Pat present in the Court and states that co-accused Gul Hassan who is father of applicant/accused demanded ransom amount for return of the stolen buffalow but due to non payment, they refused to return the same, thus there are reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant/accused along with co-accused are involved in the commission of theft of buffalo from the house of complainant. At bail stage only tentative assessment is to be made and nothing has been brought on record to show any ill-will or malafide on the part of the complainant, which is requirement for grant of pre-arrest bail. All the P.Ws have supported the version of complainant as such sufficient material is available on the record against the applicant/accused to connect him with the alleged offences. In this regard, I am fortified with the case law of Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan [2019 S C M R 1129] wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan has held as under:-

''Grant of pre-arrest bail is an extra ordinary remedy in criminal jurisdiction; it is diversion of usual course of law, arrest in cognizable cases; a protection to the innocent being hounded on trump up charges through abuse of process of law, therefore a petitioner seeking judicial protection is required to reasonably demonstrate that intended arrest is calculated to humiliate him with taints of mala fide; it is not a substitute for post arrest bail in every run of the mill criminal case as it seriously hampers the course of investigation----the principles of judicial protection are being faithfully adhered to till date, therefore, grant of pre-arrest bail essentially requires considerations of malafide, ulterior motive or abuse of process of law."

7. In view of above, applicant/accused has failed to make out a good case for grant of pre-arrest bail in the light of sub section (2) of Section 497 CrPC. In such circumstances, the instant Crl. bail Application stands dismissed and interim order dated 08.03.2022 earlier granted to the applicant/accused is hereby recalled. At this juncture, learned counsel for applicant/accused submits that since the applicant/accused Ali Gul has been taken into custody as such surety papers are no more required hence prays for return of surety documents/amount. Office is directed to return the surety documents/amount to the surety after verification and identification as per rules.

8. As far as recovery of stolen buffalow is concerned, applicant/accused is on pre-arrest bail hence no recovery of stolen buffalo has been affected. Learned D.P.G requests that the custody of appicant/accused may be handed over the Investigating Officer Sikandar Ali Dahiri of Police Saleh Pat who is present before the Court, for recovery of the stolen buffalow from the applicant/accused. Resultantly, the custody of applicant/accused Ali Gul is handed over to the I.O ASI Sikandar Ali Dahiri of Police Station Salehpat who is present in the Court.

9. Needless to mention that the observations made hereinabove are tentative in nature and would not influence the learned Trial Court while deciding the case of the applicant on merits.

Judge

Irfan/P.A