' Petitioner is accused in case F.I.R. No,254, dated 25-8-1995 under sections 302, 324, 337-A(i)/337- L/34, P.P.C. Police Station Saddar, Gojra, District Toba Tek Singh.
2. The case against the petitioner and three others was registered on the report of Arshad Ali.
According to complainant he was serving in the army and was on leave. On the day of occurrence he alongwith Iftikhar Ahmad, Muhammad Hussain went to plough land in Killa No,3, Square No,20 with a tractor and Iftikhar Ahmad started ploughing the land with tractor. In the meanwhile Muhammad Aslam armed with .12 bore gun and Shakeel Ahmad armed with pistol 30 bore, Ishtiaq armed with pistol, Taj Din armed with pistol came to the spot, Muhammad Aslam raised a Lalkara upon which Shakeel Ahmed fired at Muhammad Hussain hitting him on chest. Muhammad Aslam gave a butt-end blow to the head of complainant who fell down and was given beating by Ishtiaq, Aslam and Taj Din. Motive for the incident was that Muhammad Aslam wanted to forcibly occupy the land of Muhammad Hussain and had attacked the deceased on account of that 2-A. The petitioner has filed application for grant of bail to him. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the land in question was owned by Taj Din a real brother of Muhammad Hussain deceased who had leased it out to Muhammad Aslam father of the petitioner and that it was ancestral land of Taj Din which the deceased wanted to occupy forcibly as Taj Din lived abroad and the deceased wanted that the land should not be given to Muhammad Aslam and it was the complainant party which aggressed upon petitioner and they had acted in exercise of right of self-defence. It was further contended that there was cross-firing between the parties and it was fire of Abbas which had hit Muhammad Hussain. In was further submitted that real brother of the deceased, Taj Din, supported the stand of the petitioner. It was contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the right of self-defence was available to petitioner and in the facts and circumstances of the case he did not commit any offence. Reliance was placed on Ali Muhammad v. Ali Muhammad (PLD 1996 SC 274), Muhammad Saddique v. The State (PLD 1994 Lahore 129) and Ghulam Yaseen v.
The State (PLD 1994 Lahore 392). Learned counsel for the State opposed the grant of bail to the petitioner and submitted that question whether right of self-defence was available to the petitioner or not cannot be determined at this stage and in these circumstances the petitioner did not deserve the concession of bail.
3. Muhammad Hussain and Taj Din shared the ancestral land and were in possession of their respective shares. Taj Din had leased the land to Muhammad Aslam who was in cultivating possession of the same for quite some time. In this view of the matter Muhammad Aslam had a right to defend his possession of the land in question. Occurrence admittedly took place in land which was in possession of Muhammad Aslam and the right of self-defence prima facie had accrued to the accused side. The overall defence version of the accused side that Muhammad Aslam was tied with ropes and paraded around the village and it was on account of that a shoot- out took place between the parties and one Abbas had statingly fired at the deceased need not be evaluated at this stage because it is function of Trial Court to record stand of respective parties and thereafter, to evaluate and appreciate the evidence. Prima facie and tentatively speaking, the accused being in possession of the land had the right to defend their possession, in view of general exceptions contained in sections 100, 102, 105, P.P.C. The ambiance of the case favours the case of the petitioner. Consequently, case of the petitioner is considered to be that of further inquiry as it is yet to be seen whether he had committed any offence punishable with death or life imprisonment or had not committed any offence at all. Petitioner under the circumstances is allowed bail in the sum of Rs,5,00,000 with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of Sessions Judge, Toba Tek Singh.