QAZI M UHAM M AD AM IN AHM ED, J. Apprehending arrest, Rashid Imran, petitioner herein, after failure before the High Court, seeks bail in anticipation thereto; he along with co-accused was intercepted by a Veterinary Officer on 23.6.2021 at 9:00 p.m. with 500 kg. beef and 60 kg. mutton on a meatless day. Upon inspection, the complainant found the confiscated stuff cold on touch, dark reddish in texture emitting bad sme ll and as such manifestly unfit for human consumption; it carried fake stamps as deceit to suggest ante mortem slaughter. Upon a complaint, the police registered a criminal case, subsequent whereto, the impounded meat was destroyed with magisterial intervention.
2. Heard. Record perused.
3. An inordinate stress laid by the learned counsel on the vires of exercise undertaken by the Veterinary Officer Gojra, notwithstanding, the seizure of substandard meat, grievously injurious for human consumption, on a meatless day i.e. Wednesday is established through the inventories of even date. Association of a Magistrate further lends credence to the procedure adopted. Quantity of confiscation is too considerable to be manipulated to set up, a fake case, nor there appears any earthly reason for the complainant, a State functionary tasked with the responsibility of ensuring hygienic livestock supplies to the public, to proceed against the petitioner with motives, oblique or sinister, a sine qua non to suspend the mechanics of criminal law that mandatorily requires arrest in cognizable cases, scheduled as non-bailable. Petition fails. Leave declined.