1. Through this petition filed under Section 498 Cr.P.C. the petitioners seek pre-arrest bail in case FIR Np. 30/2011 dated 23.02.2011 for offences under Section 337-F(v)/337-F(ii)/337-L(ii)/379/148/149 PPC registered at Police Station Civil Lines, District Sahiwal.
2. According to the FIR on 18.02.2011 the complainant along with her husband Muhammad Shafiq were coming out of Court premises of the learned Additional Sessions Judge Sahiwal when the petitioners along with one accused person launched an attack upon them. Petitioner No, 1 while armed with a knife caused two injuries on the left arm of Muhammad Shafiq husband of the complainant. Similarly Petitioner No, 1 and Petitioner No, 3 caused injuries to Muhammad Shafiq husband of the complainant. The petitioners are also stated to have snatched away a gold ear ring belonging to the complainant,' a purse containing Rs, 3500/- in cash and a Nokia mobile.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the FIR has been lodged with a delay. That a bare reading of the medical legal report of injuries sustained by the complainant would show that all the injuries have been classified as Section 337-L(ii) PPC. Similarly after going through the medical legal report of Muhammad Shafiq husband of the complainant it is clear that he has also sustained injuries classified as Section 337-L(ii) PPC. A Medical Board was constituted on 03.05.2011 wherein it is opined that possibility of Injuries No, 1, 2 and 3 suffered by Muhammad Shafiq being fabricated could not be ruled out. The learned counsel further submits that the FIR is tainted with mala fide and has been lodged against the petitioners on account of previous enmity since admittedly litigation on the criminal and civil side is pending between the petitioners and the complainant.
4. The learned Deputy Prosecutor General Punjab and the learned counsel for Respondent No, 2/complainant have opposed the petition and submitted that the petitioners have been named in the FIR and a specific role of causing injuries to the complainant side has been attributed to them.
5. That the petitioners not only caused injuries to the complainant and her husband but also tore the shirt being worn by the complainant and by so doing exposed her private parts to the public. The petitioners are guilty of having committed a heinous offence and are not entitled to the concession of pre-arrest bail. There is no mala fide on the part of the complainant to have registered a false and frivolous case against the petitioners.
6. After hearing the arguments addressed by the parties and carefully perusing the record it is clear that the FIR has been lodged with an inordinate delay for which no plausible explanation is forthcoming. The offence is stated to have taken place on 18.02.2011 whereas the FIR has been lodged on 23.02.2011. Injuries sustained by the complainant and her husband have been classified as Section 337L(ii) PPC which carries a maximum punishment of two years imprisonment. The Medical Board in its meeting held on 03.05.2011 has held that possibility of Injuries No, 1, 2 and 3 sustained by Muhammad Shafiq husband of the complainant being fabricated could not be ruled out. The petitioners have been charged with an offence which does not fall within the prohibitory clause of Section 497 Cr.P.C.
7. In this view of the matter, this petition is allowed and the ad-interim pre-arrest bail already granted to the petitioners vide order dated 11.05.2011 stands confirmed subject to their furnishing fresh bail bonds in the sum of Rs, 50,000/- each with one surety each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court.