Imtiaz Hussain son of Muhammad Rafique petitioner has sought bail in case FIR No, 03/2007 dated 22.01.2007 registered with police Station I & P Cell, Collectorate of Customs, Customs House Nabah Road, Lahore for offences under Sections 156 (1) (8) (70) read with 2 (s)16, 139,157 read with SRO 1017 (I)/98.
2. The case was registered at the instance of Shahid Hussain Inspector Customs Traffic Airport, Lahore. According to the complainant on 22.01.2007 during the checking of Thai Airline Flight TG- 506 about 1300 hours a passenger who was carrying a hand bag entered the International departure hall of Lahore Airport and presented his bag for customs clearance before the complainant; from his passport the name of the passenger was revealed as Imtiaz Hussain son of Muhammad Rafique caste Qureshi resident of Chawawala Post Office Radhan Tehsil Sahiwal District Sargodha; on being asked whether he was carrying any contraband or anything illegal he replied in the negative; his bag was checked in front of witnesses namely Muhammad Habib and Muhammad Ashfaq Inspectors Customs Airport Traffic Lahore; some items of daily use were recovered, however, in view of the suspect movements of the passenger he was required to subject himself to a personal search; he was asked if he wanted his personal search in front of a Magistrate or in front of Deputy Collector customs; he replied that he may be searched in front of Deputy Collector Customs Airport Lahore; he was thus subjected to personal search in front of Deputy Collector Customs Airport Lahore; a search of the secret pockets of his underwear (knickers) yielded 42543 U.S Dollars in currency notes of different denominations; the said currency was taken into possession vide a memo of possession; the accused 'could not offer any legal justification for being in possession of the said U.S. Dollars. Resultantly the instant FIR was registered.
3. After his arrest on 22.01.2007, the petitioner made an application for post-arrest bail before the learned Special Judge Customs Lahore. However, his application was dismissed by the learned Special Judge vide order dated 12.02.2007. Hence, this petition.
4. Mian Abdul Ghaffar, the learned counsel for the petitioner argued that 35,000 U.S Dollars had been brought by the petitioner and his brother into Pakistan on 18.02.2006; his brother had to leave the country in November 2006 in a rush and had asked the petitioner to take the currency back for making some purchases at Bangkok; that the requisite entry for 35.000 US Dollars was made on the passport of petitioner's brother; that the currency in access of 35,000 US Dollars was purchased by the petitioner from the open market being authorized under clause (0 of SRO 1017(1)/98 dated 21.07.1998; that although the offence which the petitioner stands charged with attracts the prohibitory clause of Section 497 (1) Cr.P.C, yet generally in such like cases maxim 1m penalty is not awarded by the Courts.
5. On the other hand Mr. Muhammad Khalid Chaudhry, the learned legal advisor, Customs Department assisted by Tariq Qayyum Inspector strenuously opposed the grant of bail and submitted that huge recovery had been effected from the petitioner and as the offences attract the prohibitory clause of Section 497(1) Cr.P.C., the petitioner is not entitled to be released on bail.
6. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties at some length and have also carefully perused the record.
7. The recovery of US Dollars 42543 has not been denied by the petitioner. His passport does not contain any endorsement to the effect that he was in possession of any American currency at the time of his entry into Pakistan. The contention of his learned counsel that petitioner's brother had to rush to Ecuador and had left the amount of US Dollars 35,000 with the petitioner is an argument which does not belong to the realm .of tentative assessment of the material available on record.
Apart from that the petitioner has not been able to satisfactorily explain the amount of 7543 US Dollars which were in access of US Dollars 35,000. It is now well-settled that while deciding bail applications this Court is to restrict itself to tentative assessment of the material available on record. The contentions raised by the learned counsel in support of his plea for bail touch intricacies of the case which cannot be gone into at this stage. The reliance of the learned counsel for the petitioner on the order dated 26.06.2006 passed by this Court in the unreported case of Mehdi Raza Sheikh VS. The State Crl. Misc. No, 3699-B-2006 is quite misplaced inasmuch as the facts in the said case were clearly distinguishable. There is no merit in this petition, which is accordingly dismissed.