' Atiq-ur-Rehman is one of the accused persons involved in a case under section 324/34, Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, registered on 18-7-1992, at Police Station B-Division, District Kasur, at the instance of one Shaukat Ali, who alongwith one Altaf had allegedly been injured at the hands of the assailants, three in number, Naeem, Aslam and Atiq-ur-Rehman, all armed with pistols. Atiq-ur- Rehman's request for confirmation of his pre-arrest bail, earlier granted to him, was turned down, on 22-8-1992, by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Kasur, Chaudhry Muhammad Nawaz. He has approached this Court for the relief of bail before arrest.
2. Shaukat Ali complainant had allegedly been hit with the shots fired by Naeem and Aslam. It is he, with whom, one Hayat Gujar, a fast friend of the accused persons, had some grudge. Altaf, a passerby was also accidentally injured with a shot fired by Atiq-ur-Rehman, who had actually aimed at Shaukat Ali.
3. On behalf of the applicant-accused it is urged that he is innocent and has falsely been involved and even the investigating agency has come to the conclusion that his participation in the occurrence was a matter of doubt. It is pointed out that Altaf P.W., who had been injured allegedly at the hands of Atiq-ur-Rehman, had sworn and submitted an affidavit, deposing that an unidentified person had fired at him, and Atiq-ur-Rehman was not at fault. Learned counsel has also drawn the attention of the Court to the conflict between the ocular account and the medical testimony.
4. I have seen the medico-legal report, respecting Shaukat Ali complainant, indicating that he had received as many as seven injuries. It is to be noted that only four out of these are lacerated wounds, all being borne on the left leg. Even according to the F.I.R. Narrative Shaukat All had been hit on his left leg at the hands of Naeem and Aslam. It seems that the pellets had scattered, causing four fire-arm injuries. Out of the other three injuries, one is swelling, and the other two are abrasions. When the complainant had a fall on the ground, as is stated in the F.I.R., he could well have received these injuries, in consequence of his impact against the ground, or his crawling on the floor. It thus appears that the apparent inconsistency between the ocular and the medical version of the incident is reconcilable.
5. Altaf had been hit at the hands of Atiq-ur-Rehman; and he too suffered two lacerations, on his left leg. The same could be the result of one fire shot, fired from a pistol of undefined design or make. In so far as the affidavit submitted by Altaf, long after the occurrence, on 12-9-1992 (yesterday) is concerned, it could well be procured by the accused, on winning him over. The D.S.P.
In attendance informs the Court that Altaf is a "Machhi" and a poor labourer. Atiq-ur-Rehman belongs to a well-to-do family and has been successful in getting the investigation transferred from one agency/officer to another. He also managed to prolong the disposal of his bail petition, pending before the learned Additional Sessions Judge, by producing fake medical certificates, as has been observed by the learned Judge, and rightly so. The accused has been playing hide-and- seek with the Court and has been absenting himself with a view, as already said, to delay the disposal of the bail petition, so that he could prevail upon or approach the Investigating Officer and secure an opinion in his favour. The Court rightly took notice of the contumacious and inexcusable conduct of the accused. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the learned Additional Sessions Judge should have disposed of the bail petition on merits, and the matter needs to be referred to him for its adjudication on merits. It is not a civil matter, requiring resolution of controversy, by the same Court, on remand; and I have therefore, proceeded to examine the merits of the case myself.
6. Three bail petitions in succession were dismissed for non-prosecution. The last one in the series met the same fate, the history being that the accused has been furnishing medical certificates in proof of his pretended illness. The certificates were examined by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, who came to the conclusion that the accused was suffering from no serious ailment, preventing him from making appearance in Court. Bail before arrest in a criminal case is an extraordinary relief, which ought not to be extended to an accused person, who approaches the Court with unclean or tainted hands, or with ulterior object or unholy intentions. Considering the conduct of the petitioner, it appears that he is not entitled to enjoy this extraordinary concession.
He did produce a few persons, including his brother, Mehmood Ahmed, in support of his plea of innocence before the A.S.P./D.S.P., a few weeks after the incident. Altaf Hussain injured P.W., soon after the occurrence, had made a statement under section 161, Cr P C , making an express mention of all the three accused persons, including Atiqr-ur-Rehman, having taken part in the occurrence.
In a subsequent statement Altaf claimed that Atiq-ur-Rehman was very well-known to him and he could identify him. There is no explanation forthcoming, as to how was he misled in describing or naming Atiq-ur-Rehman, as one of the assailants, in the statement made by him earlier on 18-7- 1992. The only understandable reason for the somersault taken by him is that he had turned round, on having been won over by Atiq-urRehman, to make a conceding statement in his favour.
7. The main factor taken into consideration by the D.S.P. City Circle Kasur, who recorded his findings, only yesterday, was that Altaf P.W. Had produced before him an affidavit, exonerating Atiq-ur- Rehman. It has also been observed that comradeship of Atiq-ur-Rehman with the co-accused was not a matter of certainty. I have perused the case diaries. Shaukat Ali's father Rang Elahi had made an allegation, on appearance before the D.S.P., and it was to the effect that Shaukat All complainant had unearthed or exposed a gang of heroin-dealers, the accused and their friends were active members of which gang. At the stage of investigation, these statements are absolutely relevant, and I am entitled to look into the same, to form an opinion. I am persuaded to believe that this was probably the background of bickering between the accused and the complainant. At the same time, I am neither bound by the opinion of the Investigating Agency, nor indeed I am convinced by the reasoning adopted finally by the D.S.P., in giving concession to Atiq-ur-rehman, who has expressly been named in the F.I.R., with an overt act attributed to him. He had joined others in making a murderous assault on the complainant, while he, as also others, were armed with lethal arms, and, in the process, an unconcerned innocent person was hit, and both the injured P.Ws., Altaf, as also Shaukat, were only lucky to escape death, having not been hit on delicate parts of their bodies. But there could be no doubt about involvement of the applicant in this incident of very serious nature, and he also appears to have associated himself with bad characters and criminal elements, inasmuch as he acted in a desperate manner, despite being apparently adolescent. He is however, a teen-ager, and not a minor, in the technical sense, nor has the same been invoked as a ground in the bail petition. But the fact remains, as has been stated by the D.S.P., that the accused-applicant is not joining the investigation and the recovery of the crime weapon also remains to be effected. The accused has also made a visible effort to tamper with the prosecution evidence, by gaining time. It is really astonishing that although the petition for bail before arrest had been rejected by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, the accused had managed to escape and has been enjoying liberty throughout. The police did not make any effort to arrest him; and actually on behalf of the complainant it has been asserted before me that the police is acting in league with the accused; and the plea seems not to be without substance.
8. I therefore, find myself wholly disinclined to grant to the petitioner the relief of bail before arrest, and I proceed to reject the petition. Order dated 2-9-1992 is hereby recalled.
Petition rejected.