Through this petition under Section 497 Cr.P.C. The petitioners Rehmat Ullah son of Qadir Bakhsh and Khalid son of Ashraf have sought bail after arrest in case FIR No.67/15 dated 14.02.2015 under Section 337Ai), 337A(ii), 337F(iii), 337F(v), 147, 149 , 34 PPC Police Station Saddar District Sargodha.
2. Briefly stated the allegations against the petitioners as per FIR are that petitioner No.1 Rehmat Ullah while armed with Sota hit Noor Muhammad, injured (father of the complainant), on his left arm. And petitioner No.2 Khalid while armed with Sota inflicted a blow on the right arm of Noor Muhammad, injured (father of the complainant).
3. Arguments heard. Record perused.
4. The injuries attributed to both the petitioners were declared under Section 337-F(v) PPC, the punishment whereof is five years, which does not fall within the prohibitory clause of Section 497 Cr.P.C. As per the Police Official present in Court, four co-accused namely Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Qasim, Muhammad Riaz and Safdar have been granted bail by the learned Addl.
Sessions Judge, Sargodha. "Provision of Section 337-N(2) contemplates that in all cases of hurt the normal punishment to be awarded to an offender is payment of Arsh or Daman and the optional additional punishment of imprisonment provided for the relevant offence can be awarded to an offender only where the offender is a previous convict, habitual or hardened, desperate or dangerous criminal." Reliance is placed on Ali Muhammad Vs. The State (PLD 2009 Lahore 312).
There is no other case registered against the present petitioners. The petitioners are behind the bars since the day of their arrest, as they are no more needed in police investigation, hence their incarceration will serve no useful purpose. Though the challan has been submitted in the Court but this is no ground to disentitle the petitioners for grant of bail. Reliance is placed upon "Mst.Maria Khan Vs. The State and another (2013 SCMR 49)." In the countries following the Common Law, the principle that a person is innocent till proven guilty is strictly applied.
5. In view of the above, this petition is allowed and the petitioners are granted bail after arrest subject to their furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs.1,00,000/- each with one surety each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court.
6. The observations made hereinabove are tentative in nature and are strictly confined to the decision of this bail petition only.