Bushra Bibi alias Buchu, petitioner has sought post-arrest bail in case F.I.R. No. 1311 dated 11.11.2021, under Section 9(c) of Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, registered at Police Station City Hafizabad, District Hafizabad.
2. Allegedly, 1250-gram Heroin was recovered from the petitioner.
3. Having heard the arguments addressed at the bar and after perusing the record, it was noticed that the quantity of the recovered contraband material is slightly on the higher side than one kilogram. The record is silent if the recovered contraband material was put on the scale with or without wrapper, removal whereof might have reduced its actual weight, thus, the case of the petitioner swings in between Section 9(b) and 9(c) of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997.
The report of Forensic expert is still awaited and, thus, the prosecution cannot assert with any degree of the certitude if the recovered material was factually heroin or otherwise. The petitioner is shown to be a previous convict by way of probation in a couple of cases of similar nature and record is silent if the petitioner violated the terms/stipulations of her probation. However, the previous conviction of an accused does not debar his subsequent release on bail. Reliance in this context, can be placed on the cases of Muhammad Abid Farooq versus The State and another"
(2015 P.Cr.LJ 224), Amin versus The State (1998 P.Cr.LJ 1677) and Shamoon Jatoi versus The State (1996 P.Cr.LJ 783). The petitioner is behind the bars from the last more than 04 months. The commencement/conclusion of trial in near future is not insight. In the circumstances, I am inclined to exercise my discretion in favour of the petitioner.
4. For the foregoing reasons, the application is accepted and the petitioner is admitted to post- arrest bail subject to his furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs. 2,00,000/- with one surety in the like