Through this petition under Section 498 Cr.P.C. the petitioners have sought pre-arrest bail in case FIR No.234/15 dated 09.01.205, under sections 337A(i), 337A(ii), 337F(v), 337L(2), 147, 149 PPC registered at Police Station Satrah, District Sialkot.
2. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the record with their able assistance. This is bail before arrest and only tentative assessment is permissible at this stage, therefore, without going deeper into the merits of the case it has been noticed that although the petitioners are named in FIR, yet the fact remains that there is a delay of two days in registration of FIR, which has not been explained by the complainant, which prima facie shows that the FIR has been got registered after due deliberation and consultation. Even otherwise, the injuries attributed to Tariq and Awais petitioners No.2 and 3 fall under sections 337A(i) and 337L(2) PPC, which are bailable, whereas the injury attributed to Abdul Rasheed petitioner falls under section 337A(ii) PPC, which carries maximum punishment upto five years only.
Furthermore, after the registration of instant FIR cross-version was also got recorded by the petitioner side which still holds field, through which medico legal certificates of the petitioners/ injured have been brought on record, which clearly shows that the complainant has suppressed the part played by his side for causing injuries to the petitioners during the occurrence, so the story narrated by the complainant in the FIR has become doubtful. It has become a case of two versions one put forward by the complainant of the FIR and the other in the shape of cross-version recorded by the petitioner side and which version is correct is to be determined by the learned trial court after recording evidence. It is also pertinent to mention here that the accused of cross-version case have already been released on bail on the basis of compromise between the parties.
Admittedly the petitioners are previous non-convict. Neither they are hardened, dangerous, desperate criminal nor have committed the alleged offence on the pretext of honour , therefore, section 337N(2) PPC also comes to their rescue. The person of the petitioners cannot be handed over to police only for the purpose of effecting recovery , which otherwise has lost relevancy with the passage of time as occurrence in this case took place on 07.07.2015. In such situation, recovery of weapons of offence after the elapse of more than three and half months is of little help to the prosecution. In this regard, reliance can be placed on 2014 SCMR 1349 . The petitioners have already joined the investigation which is complete, therefore, no useful purpose would be served by sending him behind the bars so as to enable him to come out of jail on post arrest bail after few days.
3. For what has been discussed above, false implication of the petitioners by the complainant cannot be ruled out of consideration. Resultantly , the ad-interim pre-arrest bail already granted to the petition ers vide this Court' s order dated 22.09.2015 is hereby confirmed subject to furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) each with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of learned Trial Court/Area Magistrate.
4. The observations made above are tentative in nature and are strictly confined to the decision of this bail petition only.