1. ' By this single order Criminal Bail Applications bearing Nos.847, 848, 849, 859, 951, 952, 953, 954, 955, 956, 957 and 958 of 1994 will be disposed of as in all the cases the accused is the same and the nature of allegation is also the same.
2. ' Accused Abdul Shakoor Khatti was serving as Tapedar at Tappo Khann, Taluka Ghora-Bari, District Thatta in the year 1989. In collusion with different private persons, the applicant/accused Tapedar Abdul Shakoor Khatti prepared bogus agricultural pass-books in the names of the private persons, who are now co-accused with him in this case. Those pass-books were prepared by the applicant/accused, Tapedar Abdul Shakoor Khatti and he falsely entered the agricultural land belonging to ether persons in the names of the private persons, who are the co-accused.
3. Thereafter, these pass-books, which were in fact forged pass-books were used by the co-accused for the purpose of obtaining loans from Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan, Very Branch in District. Thatta. Huge amounts on all these Pass Books were drawn and misappropriated. The forged Pass-Books bear the handwriting and the signature of applicant/accused Abdul Shakoor.
4. On verification of these pass-books after some time it came to the knowledge that these were forged pass-books and that the same were never issued from the office of Taluka Mukhtiarkar, Ghora-bari, where a regular register is kept, in which all the pass-books, which are issued from the office, are entered. Besides, the duplicate copies of the Pass-Books coloured red were not available or not kept in the office of Mukhtiarkar as is required in case genuine Pass-Books are issued. The land shown in the Pass-Books did not belong to the co-accused/the private persons shown to be the owners in these Pass-Books. Thus, on account of this fraud and forgery the A.D.B.P. Was duped to the extent of millions of rupees. An enquiry was conducted by the Anti-Corruption Establishment Thatta and thereafter different F.I.Rs, in case of each Pass-Book were registered in all 12 cases, in which applicant/accused Tapedar Abdul Shakoor is shown as accused. Necessary permission for registering the cases was obtained from Superintendent of Police A.C.E., Hyderabad and after the completion of investigation a challan has been produced against the present applicant and the co-accused in the Court of Special Judge, Anti-Corruption (Provincial) Hyderabad, Sindh. The co- accused are absconding. The bail application of the present applicant was dismissed by the Special Judge, Anti-Corruption (Provincial), Hyderabad on 8-9-1994 and thereafter the applicant has approached this Court with the request for grant of bail in all these 12 cases. The applicant/accused is charged with the offences under sections 409, 420, 465, 468, 471, 218, 34, P.P.C.
5. Read with section 5(2) of Anti-Corruption Act, 1947.
6. ' Mr. Zafar Javaid, Advocate for the applicant, has argued that the prosecution has not got the signature on the Pass-Books and the handwriting on the pass-books, verified through a Handwriting Expert and, therefore, it cannot be said that the Pass-Books bear the signature and handwriting of the applicant. The second argument of the learned counsel for the applicant was that the Mukhtiarkar, the Bank Manager and the Mobile Credit Officer of the concerned Bank should also be held responsible in this offence.
7. ' Mr. K.M. Nadeem, Advocate, A.A.-G. Appearing for the State, has opposed the grant of bail to the applicant and stated that prima facie there was enough evidence against the applicant/accused to show that he is guilty of an offence, which is punishable with imprisonment for 10 years and above. The applicant/accused being responsible Government employee has misused his position to obtain illegal gain and, therefore, he does not deserve any sympathy.
8. I have considered the arguments of the learned counsel and have also perused the record. In this case the applicant at the initial stage absconded and he was arrested after many years when the N.B.Ws. Issued by the trial Court were served on him and the proceedings under sections 87 and 88 were also ordered against him. It appears that there was a gang involved in a racket to enrich themselves by millions of rupees. The applicant/accused has played a pivotal role in this racket.
9. The Mukhtiarkar and other employees of the office, in whose presence the applicant/accused used to sign and write, have identified the handwriting of the applicant/accused on the Pass-Books.
10. Besides, the jurisdiction of the land, which is shown in the Pass-Books, and the relevant dates prove that the applicant/accused was the concerned person incharge of the concerned Tapa, when these Pass-Books were issued. Mr. K.M. Nadeem has relied upon the cases reported in PLD 1981 SC 83 and PLD 1985 SC 402. He has also contended that the Bank Manager and the Mobile Credit Officer being the employees of the Federal Government, the case against them is being investigated by the F.IA. And they are also likely to be challaned in this very case. There are no reasonable grounds to believe at this stage that the applicant is not guilty of the non-bailable offence carrying the punishment of 10 years and, therefore, the case also does not fall under the exceptional clause. Therefore, there is no merit in the application and the same is rejected. This application was decided by a short order, dated 25-10-1994 and was rejected for the reasons to be recorded. These are the reasons for the same.