QAZI MUHAMMAD AMIN AHMED, J.---Aftab Alam, 35/36, left home at about 7:00 p.m.; his wife, as stated by him, expected her to return shortly thereafter, however, upon failure to return, became suspicious and informed her brother-in-law at 2:00 a.m.; his mobile handset did not respond multiple attempts. Search started in the morning to find the dead body lying in a pool of blood in a field; he was done to death by unknown assailant(s) with fire shots; stricken by shock, the family was clueless about the motive behind the crime. As investigation progressed, the petitioner was taken on board as a suspect on the basis of complainant's supplementary statement dated 26.2.2020 wherein Sajid Ali Shah was also -arrayed as an accomplice for the murder in the backdrop of a monetary dispute; the latter pursuant to a disclosure, led to the recovery of a .30 caliber pistol, a weapon that did not forensically tally with the casings secured during spot inspection. Semi burnt cell phone handsets used by the deceased, concealed underneath the soil, were recovered at petitioner's instance vide inventory dated 25.2.2020,
2. Heard. Record perused.
3. Be that as it may, complainant's strong belief about petitioner's culpability notwithstanding, evidentiary value of various pieces of prosecution evidence hitherto collected has to survive judicial scrutiny to cross the barriers of rules of evidence; the exercise has admittedly not yet commenced. Prosecution for the present is not possessed with any digital proof to establish sub-scriptive nexus between the deceased and the handsets. Call Detail Record (C.D.R.) purportedly suggestive of conversation between the deceased and the accused shortly before his death, nonetheless, sans contents/details thereof. Without prejudice to the merits of the prosecution case, to be essentially settled by the trial Court, nonetheless, petitioner's case squarely falls within the remit of subsection (2) of section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898; a case for his release on bail stands made out. Criminal Petition No.500 of 2020 is converted into appeal and allowed; petitioner/appellant shall be released on his furnishing bonds in the sum of Rs.500,000/- with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court/duty Judge.