' SHAHID HAMEED DAR, J.---Ghulam Mustafa alias Baggi (petitioner) seeks bail after-arrest in case- F.I.R. No,149/2012, dated 17-5-2012, registered for offences under sections 302, 34, P.P.C., at Police Station Rang Shah (Pakpattan Shari!).
2. Precisely, the prosecution case as narrated by Muhammad Tufail (complainant) is that his sister Mst. Zohra Bibi married Ghulam Mustafa alias Baggi (petitioner) about three years back; she developed certain differences with real brothers of her husband whereafter she along with her husband shifted to Noor Pur Adda and started living there; she told him and others including Muhammad Sarwar, Asif Nawaz and her mother about the said fact and expressed her fears that she might be murdered by her husband and his brothers; Ghulam Mustafa (petitioner) intended to shift to some other place from Noor Pur Adda but she refused to accompany him; he and his mother however persuaded her to accompany her husband; he along with his mother and sister visited in-laws of Mst. Zohra Bibi and found her missing from the house; on asking by them, Ghulam Mustafa (petitioner) after showing some hiccups, told that she had gone to Lahore to meet some relatives and he would ask her to contact them after about 2/3 days; he learnt on 15-5-2012 that the dead body of an unknown female had been recovered from a maize-crop-field, situated in revenue limits of Chak No,60/SP, whereon he along with some witnesses visited the police station and on seeing snapshots, clothes and a pair of shoes identified the dead body to be of his sister Mst. Zohra Bibi; his behnoi Muhammad Nawaz, maternal nephew Rab Nawaz alias Tariq Mehmood were visited by Ghulam Mustafa (petitioner), Mumtaz and Muhammad Usman on 16-5-2012 and it was Ghulam Mustafa (petitioner) who, firstly admitted before them that he along with his brother Mumtaz and Muhammad Usman had murdered Mst. Zohra Bibi by strangulating her as she was a lax-morale lady; he further told that legs and arms of Mst. Zohra Bibi were held by his co-accused Usman and Mumtaz, whereas he strangulated her to death; all the accused admitted that after murdering Mst. Zohra Bibi they threw her dead body in a maize-crop-field by loading it on a motorcycle.
' The dead body of the deceased lady was dissected on 12-5-2012 at DHQ, Hospital Pakpattan Sharif by a woman Medical Officer who, after finding it putrefied did not record any finding or remarks as to its cause of death and deferred her opinion till such time, the reports from the offices of the Chemical Examiner and Bacteriologist/Histopathologist were made available. The record reveals that the said reports are still awaited, reason being, that the internal viscera were sent to the said offices by the police more than a year after they were handed over to them by the woman Medical Officer.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that it is a case of no evidence against the petitioner, who has been falsely involved in this case only due to suspicions of the complainant; the evidence of extrajudicial confession is joint in nature and conveys no legal sense; lastly submits that the petitioner was taken into custody on 23-5-2012 and he has been languishing in jail ever since for none of his fault.
4. On the other hand, learned Additional Prosecutor-General Punjab opposes with the contention that the accused/petitioner is solely responsible for causing death of the ill-fated lady as he kept her whereabouts hidden for a number of days and he did so under a calculated-move and plan; the evidence of extra-judicial confession rendered by three witnesses Muhammad Nawaz, Rab Nawaz and Asif Nawaz connects the petitioner with the commission of offence; the Investigating Officer 'was in-league with the accused side as he, despite having received the internal viscera of the deceased immediately after autopsy retained them for months with criminal intent and made every effort to destroy the said evidence; the delay in dispatch of viscera of the deceased to the said offices is not intentional rather it is due to fault of the Investigating Officer who is being proceeded against by the. DPO concerned for having shown criminal negligence; lastly submits that the petitioner is well-connected with the commission of offence, hence, he may not be granted the relief prayed for.
5. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and perusing the record, it is observed that Ghulam Mustafa (petitioner) is the husband of the ill-fated lady, Mst. Zohra Bibi whose dead body was recovered on 11-5-2012 from a maize-crop-field, situated in the revenue limits of Chak No,60/SP.
Initially, the dead body was found' putrefied and maggots crawled in and out of it, with tongue protruding out of the mouth. The Woman Medical Officer, who performed autopsy on the dead body, removed hyoid-bone and certain other internal viscera, including stomach, liver, spleen, kidney, small intestine and large intestine, rendered them into sealed-parcels, which she delivered to the police on 12-5-2012 for their dispatch to the offices of Chemical Examiner and Bacteriologist/Histopathologist. Cause of death qua the deceased was kept under observation by the doctor till receipt of reports from the said offices/Laboratories. It transpired during pendency of this bail-application that noted sealed-parcels had never been dispatched to the said offices by the police rather they recorded rapat No,11 on 24-5-2013 mentioning therein the 'said 'feat' , without giving any details or reasons in respect thereto. Holding it a pathetic situation, we directed the DPO, Pakpattan Sharif to hold an inquiry into the matter and make sure that the requisite reports were made available without further delay and delinquent persons/officials were taught a proper lesson.
The DPO on receipt of order dated 28-5-2013 awoke all at once and dispatched aforesaid parcels to the laboratories concerned vide Road Certificate Nos.326/21 and 327/21 dated 2-6-2013, more than a year after they were handed over to the police by the Woman Medical Officer. It was a pathetic situation, which adversely reflected on working and" efficiency of the police, especially the SHO and the DPO concerned as well as the Prosecution Branch. Despite a categorical direction of this Court made on 4-6-2013, the DPO, Pakpattan Sharif vide Memo No,11346 dated 19-6-2013 has informed that the requisite reports would be available after about seven weeks. Is it a situation to take a pride or feel sheepish, being nonchalant and apathetic, makes a point for the DPO concerned to ponder over.
The argument of learned Additional Prosecutor-General Punjab that the evidence of extra-judicial confession rendered by Muhammad Nawaz, Asif Nawaz and Rab Nawaz alias Tariq Mehmood incriminates the petitioner beyond doubt, may be of little relevance at this stage, as medical evidence is still far from the stage of being a corroboratory piece of evidence, owing to non- availability of Expert-reports, which may help autopsy-conductor declare the cause of death of the deceased. This particular piece of evidence can better be visualized, provided "reports in the making" fall to one's hand. The petitioner was taken into custody on 23-5-2012 and his trial is still at a nascent stage, as argued by his learned counsel, who pointed out that the petitioner was indicted on 11-12-2012 by the learned trial Court but there was no advancement in trial afterwards.
The complainant took about 10 days to report the matter to the police and awaited till such time, when dead body of his deceased sister was recovered on 11-5-2012 from a far-off field. The co- accused of the petitioner has been found innocent during the course of investigation. There exist reasonable grounds to believe that the petitioner's case, in its present form, calls for further probe into his guilt, as envisaged by section 497(2), Cr.P.C.
' Therefore, the instant petition is accepted and petitioner is admitted to post-arrest-bail subject to furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs,2,00,000 with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of learned trial Court.
' Before parting with this order, it is clarified that the complainant/prosecution would be at liberty to move under section 497(5), Cr.P.C. Against the petitioner, once reports-in-issue reveal incriminating/corroboratory material and medical evidence gets a proper shape, in terms of a supporting factor.
' So far as proceedings against the Investigating Officer and others are concerned a separate file (Criminal Miscellaneous No,2044-M of 2013) is being maintained by the office for adjudication.