Crl. Misc. No. 01 of 2019 The petitioner-appellant by way of the instant petition has sought suspension of his sentence and release on bail during the pendency of his appeal.
2. The petitioner was tried in case FIR No. 286 dated 20-04-2019 offence unde r Section 9(c) of CNSA, 1997 registered at Police Station Ghalla Mandi, Sahiwal. According to the impugned judgment dated 22-07-2019 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge/Model Criminal Trial Court, Sahiwal, the petitioner has been convicted and sentenced as under: "Under Section 9(c) of Control of Narcotics substance Act, 1997 to suffer rigorous imprisonment for four years and six months with fine of Rs. 20,000/- and in case of default thereof, he shall further suffer simple imprisonment for five months with benefit of Section 382-B, Cr .P.C.
3. Arguments heard and record perused.
4. Briefly , the accusation leveled in the F.LR against the petitioner is that the contingents of Police of Police Station Ghalla Mandi, Sahiwal, on spy information, apprehended the petitioner from Bridge 90/9-L and got recovered charas weighing 1110 grams. The sentence of imprisonment passed by the learned trial Court against the petitioner is short one being four years and six months RI. There is no prospect of early hearing and decision of the main appeal of the petitioner in near future. In the circumstances, if the sentence awarded to the petitioner is not suspended there is likelihood that he may serve out his entire sentence before the decision of his appeal on merits. It will amount to awarding the petitioner punishment in advance. In this respect, we respectfully refer here the case of Abdul Hameed v. Muhammad Abdullah (1999 SCMR 2589 ). It is also noteworthy that the petitioner was granted bail during the pendency of his trial before the learned trial Court and this fact is duly reflected in Paragraph No. 18 of the impugned judgment. There is no allegation that the petitioner misused the concession of bail during his trial and as such the prayer of the petitioner for grant of bail to him can favourably be considered.
Reliance in this respect may be placed on the judgment reported as "Rafaqat Ahmad vs. The State" (1994 SCMR 1206 ). This miscellaneous petition is, therefor e, allowed, the sentence of the petitioner is suspended and the petitioner is admitted to bail subject to his furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs. 2,00,000/-(Rupees two hundred thousand only) with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Deputy Registrar (Judicial) of this Bench.
The petitioner is, however , directed to remain present before this Court on each and every date of hearing of his appeal.