ABDUL MAJID TIWANA, J.-- This order shall also dispose of Cr. Misc. No. 5106-B of 1992.
2. Petitioner, besides four others, are accused in case: FIR No. 240 registered at Police Station Safdarabad, District Sheikhupura, on 11-10-1991 under section 302,364, 148/149 PPC on the statement of Fazal Muhammad complainant.
3. The allegations are that Mst. Samina, wife of Ismail petitioner and sister of Ashfaq petitioner, had allegedly been abducted by Abdul Ghani son of Suleman injured PW and a case of her abduction and zina got registered by Ashfaq petitioner against the abductor and abductee failed on account of her making favourable statement during investigation. In this background, on 4.10.1991 at 8. p.m. The petitioners alongwith Ashraf, Zulfiqar, Akram and Mst. Sardaran co-accused, armed with different weapons, forcibly put Mst. Karamat Bibi, alias Karmo (deceased) and her husband Suleman PW in a Wagon at Jay- Chak for some destination in order to compel them to get Mst. Samina traced. On the way Fazal Muhammad complainant and Wali Muhammad also boarded the vehicle and when it was moving for some destination, the accused party started beating Mst. Karamat Bibi alias Karmo (deceased) and her husband Suleman PW. She received six injuries on different parts of her body and Suleman PW suffered three injuries. She died in the vehicle and the accused party took her to their own house. The matter was reported to the police by Fazal Ahmad and the case was registered against the petitioners and their co-accused in the manner aforesaid.
4. The petitioners were arrested on 23.10.1991 by the local police which found them guilty for Qatl-e- Khata punishable under section 319 PPC and abduction under section 364 PPC for committing her murder. It was then investigated by the Range Crimes, Lahore, which came to the conclusion that the accused had committed the murder of Mst. Karamat Bibi alias Karmo and she alongwith her husband was being abducted for the purpose of committing murder. The investigation was ultimately transferred to the Crimes Branch and they have concluded that it was a case of abduction but Mst. Karamat Bibi alias Karmo (deceased) and her husband Suleman themselves had jumped out of the moving vehicle as a result of which they sustained injuries and the former later died. They have decided to prosecute Ismail, Ashfaq, Akram and Mst. Sardaran besides Muhammad Shafiq driver under section 320, 365, 148/149 PPC after deleting section 302 and 364 PPC. They have recommended for the discharge of Muhammad Ashraf and Zulfiqar co-accused as innocent.
5. It is argued on behalf of the petitioners that Mst. Sardaran accused alongwith her son-in-law Ismail petitioner and her son Ashfaq petitioner was going alongwith Mst. Karamat Bibi alias Karmo (deceased) and her husband Suleman PW in the same wagon to the Dera of Abdul Rashid MPA at Faruq Abad in order to get the dispute about the abduction of her daughter Mst. Samina Bibi by Abdul Ghani, the son of Mst. Karamat Bibi and Mohammad Suleman PW decided in a Punchiat and when the vehicle was moving on the matelled road, Mst. Kaianat Bibi jumped out of it, followed by her husband Suleman PW and, as a result of the fall both of them suffered injuries and she ultimately expired. The complainant party, according to the learned counsel, gave a twist to these facts and made out a case of murder against the petitioners and their co-accused. It is further contended that the accused party could not forcibly put the complainant party into a vehicle in the village, nor the two PWs could be allowed to sit in the vehicle on the way as alleged in the FIR.
6. Both the applications has been opposed on behalf of the State as also by the learned counsel for the complainant. It is contended that if the parties were going for Punchiat to the Dera of Abdul Rashid MPA at Farooqabad, then he should have been associated with the investigation but nobody seems to have advert to this aspect of the matter. It is urged that there could be no possibly of the Punchiat being convened at night at a distant place and if at all the parties were going for a Punchiat, there was no necessity of Mst. Karatnat Bibi alias Karmo (deceased) having accompanied them. It is submitted that the version of the occurrence now being pressed into service on behalf of the accused is an afterthought. It is urged that if Mst. Karamat alias Karmo (deceased) had really jumped but of the vehicle and had suffered a fatal injury, she should have been brought to the hospital instead of being taken to the house of the accused from where her deadbody was recovered by the police. It has been pointed out that the challan has already been submitted to the court of Session pursuant to the findings of Range Crimes and the investigation now being carried out by the Crime Branch is malafide.
7. The list of the findings recorded by various investigating agencies has already been given. It is an admitted position that Mst. Samina, the wife of Ismail petitioner, had allegedly been abducted by Abdul Ghani son of Suleman PW and Mst. Karamat Bibi alias Karmo (deceased) and she alongwith her minor son, hardly 2-3 years old, is still not traceable. On account of this incident the relations between the parties were stained and it is possible that in order to resolve the controversy whether or not she had been abducted by Abdul Ghani and was being kept by him somewhere, the parties might be going together to the local MPA for his decision. I do not find much force in the contention of the learned counsel for the complainant that Mst. Karamat alias Karmo (deceased) and her husband Suleman were forced by the accused party to board the wagon at 8 p.m. At /he village (Jay Chak) for some destination in order to kill them or to force them for the restoration of Mst.
Samina and the deceased was given beating by the accused party in the moving vehicle. The presence of the ladies of the either side in the vehicle indicated that they were most probable going to the local MPA for the resolution of their controversy at late hours as he was generally available at his Dera at that time. The association of the MPA with the investigation to ascertain as to whether or not he had given any appointment to the part as during the night of occurrence, would, to a greater extent, have clarified this matter but none of the investigating agencies seems to have associated him with the investigation of the case. It also does not seem probable that the accused party was armed with deadly weapons with which they gave beating to Mst. Karamat Bibi alias Karmo (deceased) and her husband Suleman PW. It appears that during the transit the parties fell out with each other as their sick are already affaired and in the struggle, either Mst. Karamat Bibi alias Karmo (deceased) and her husband jumped out of the vehicle on account of the fear of the opposites party, or they were pushed out by them, without the knowledge of the driver of the vehicle who could not immediately known as what was happening behind him if his cabin stood separated from the rests of the body of the vehicle. Perhaps for the reason he could not stop it instantaneously. I am of the view that the deceased lady as also her husband both suffered injuries as a result of their drop out and not as a result of the bearing given by them by hatchet, butts of guns and Dandas. The Crimes Branch, Lahore, more or less, has also reached the same conclusion. As regards the presence of the eye- witnesses, other than Suleman PW, who claimed themselves to have boarded the moving vehicle on the way, it is not something easily acceptable. If they really boarded the moving vehicle on the way, then there can be more weight in the version of the accused party that they alongwith their opponents were going to Faruq Ah. Nl for Punchiat.
8. For various reasons stated above, the petitioners, who have been in the lock-up lor quite a few months, are granted bail if they furnish bail bonds in the sum of Rs.50,000/-each with one surety each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner /Duty Magistrate, Sheikhupura.
9. It may be mentioned that during the course of arguments it has transpired that Mst. Samina abductee alongwith her minor son, who is hardly 2-3 years old, is still not traceable and the police has cancelled the case: FIR No. 170 registered at Police Station, Safdarabad, against Abdul Ghani son of Suleman on account of her favourable statement. Being a married lady, having a baby, if she had really appeared before the police during the investigation, then she should have either been restored to her parents or to her husband and it is not understandable as where she was allowed to go and why the case was cancelled? The police should have worried for the life and illegal custody of the baby which is a more serious and independent offence, if they were not worrying for his mother for her amorous activities.
10. S.P. Sheikhupura should, therefore, be asked to submit a detailed report, so as to reach this court on 26-1-1993 as to how and why the case was cancelled and why the abductee and her baby have not been restored to her/his parents so far? SHO of Police Station Safdar Abad should also be asked to appear with record of cases FIR No. 170. The ASI has been directed to convey this order to him.