' Abdul Khaliq and Muhammad Afzal Shakir have filed this criminal revision under section 439, Cr.P.C. Against the order, dated 12-6-1991 passed by Mr. Fayyaz Hamid Qureshi, the learned Sessions Judge, Okara whereby he forfeited the bail bond furnished by both the petitioners in the sum of Rs,20,000 each as sureties and the petitioners were imposed penalty to the tune of Rs,10,000 each failing which they were directed to undergo two months' simple imprisonment.
2. The brief facts of the case are; that one Ghulam Mustafa being an accused under Article 3/4 of the Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order, 1979 was granted interim post-arrest bail and both the petitioners furnished sureties in the sum of Rs,20,000 each for the said Ghulam Mustafa. On 9- 3-1991 the accused did not appear and non-bailable warrants of his arrest were issued for 16-3- 1991. The accused even did not appear on different dates and then the learned Sessions Judge summoned both the sureties who appeared on 29-4-1991 and made an application giving them time to produce the accused. They were given time but they could not produce the accused. The learned Sessions Judge cancelled the to the accused and forfeited the bail bonds and both the petitioners were imposed penalty of Rs,10,000 each failing which they were to undergo two months'
S.I. Since the petitioners expressed their inability to pay the surety amount so they were sent to jail and were ordered to be released by this Court on 18-6-1991 when they filed this revision petition in this Court.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioners contended that the learned Sessions Judge had not followed the provisions contained in section 514, Cr.P.C. As he did not attach the property of the petitioners for the recovery of the surety amount before sending them to jail. It was also argued that the petitioners were known to the accused and they had furnished sureties merely on humanitarian grounds. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the State supported the order passed by the learned Sessions Judge.
4. I have heard the learned counsel at considerable length and have also gone through the record very minutely. I find that both the petitioners stood surety to a person who was an accused under Article 3/4 of the Prohibition Order, 1979 when he had been found selling heroin and after his release on interim bail he absconded and has not appeared. The order passed by the learned Court below is in consonance with the provisions contained in section A 514(1), Cr.P.C. And no infirmity in the same has been highlighted by the learned counsel for the petitioners except that the petitioners are very poor persons and are not in a position to pay the amount of Rs,10,000. Both the learned counsel agreed that the amount of Rs,10,000 be reduced from Rs,10,000 to Rs,3,000 as they have stood surety on humanitarian ground and had no other pecuniary interest whatsoever in this case.
5. I have, therefore, reduced the penalty imposed on the learned Sessions Judge from Rs,10,000 to Rs,3,000 each. The petitioners are directed to make the payment of the amount of sureties of Rs,3,000 each within a period of one month from the date of this order. In case of non-payment they will be sent to civil prison to undergo the remaining sentence.
' It may be noted that they were sent to jail on 12-6-1991 and were released under the order of this Court on 18-6-1991.
6. With this modification in the penalty imposed on the petitioners, this revision petition is disposed of.