' This is a petition under section 498, Cr. P. C., for bail before arrest, on behalf of Syed Rafiq Muhammad Shah, ex-Member National Assembly, Raja Imtiaz Ahmad, ex-Member Provincial Assembly and Muhammad Afzal Wattoo, ex-Member, National Assembly. The latter two are Advocates as well.
2. All the three petitioners were named in the first information report which was lodged by Khurshid Ali Khan at Police Station, Bahawalnagar on 22-4-1977 at 6-30 p.m., regarding an incident which is alleged to have taken place on the same day at 4-30 p.m. According to Khurshid Ali, it was 10-30 a m., when workers of the Pakistan People's Party set fire to a Chaubara of "National Saving Centre", where Azizur-Rehman, nephew of the complainant was working as a Manager and had his residence there as well. When the complainant came to know of this news he straightaway proceeded to the house of his nephew in Mohallah Ganda Nala, which was under construction.
There he came to know that Aziz-ur-Rehman had left for Kamran Hotel to use telephone, for his own telephone had been burnt. The complainant then proceeded to Kamran Hotel, met Aziz ur- Rehman and enquired from him as to how he was who told him that with the exception of clothes on his person, everything else had been burnt. Khurshid All then returned to his house and after Jumma prayer took a few clothes and proceeded to Dhaban Bazar accompanied by his son Rafi- uz-Zaman and nephews Shahid and Badar-uz-Zaman Suleman. After having passed the main crossing at 4-30 p.m. While they were passing in front of the clinic of Dr. Raman they noticed the three petitioners armed with shot-guns and pistol on the roof of the shops of Syed Rafique Muhammad Shah, which were adjacent to his bungalow. Raja Imtiaz Ahmad shouted{{URDU TEXT}}Khurshid All was put on guard and he tried to leave the place along with the children through a street in front of the clinic of Dr. Safdar. In the meanwhile, the party was noticed by Raja Imtiaz Ahmad who said to the other two petitioners that Anjum's son and his brother were coming. On this, all the three opened fire. Shahid was hit in the leg and Badar-uz-Zaman Suleman was hit in the chest. Khurshid Ali and his son held Badar-uz-Zaman Suleman and ran towards the crossing but the injured expired in front of the clinic of Dr. Mannan. The accused in the meanwhile ran away while firing.
3. After the registration of the aforesaid first information report, the petitioners applied for bail before arrest in this Court. They were admitted to ad interim anticipatory bail by my order dated 16-7-1977. At that time learned counsel produced a note from the Registrar A. V. Hospital showing that Raja Imtiaz Ahmad had been admitted in the hospital on account of heart ailment.
4. Today when the petition came up for further orders, learned counsel for the petitioners, who himself is also one of the petitioners challenged the aforesaid version of the prosecution and submitted that it was not only exaggerated but was also false, because regarding the same incident a report was lodged by Muhammad Rafiq, a worker of the Pakistan People's Party but that was registered by the Police on the next day. According to the counter-version given by the learned counsel, a procession of the Pakistan National Alliance after /um= prayer came to the house of petitioner No, 1 and encircled the same, On reaching there, they started indiscriminate firing and also used hand-grenades.
' Learned counsel submitted that this was a pre-planned attack. Everything happened under thevery nos of the D. S. P., who was present at the spot as a silent spectator and that the Police Station was at a distance of 100 yards from the place of occurrence.
' Learned counsel further submitted that as a result of indiscriminate firing 14 persons from the side of the accused petitioners were injured. He placed on record medico-legal reports of nine persons to show that the injuries received by them were the result of fire-arms. Learned counsel submitted that when the situation became completely out of control and even the police did not interfere, the workers of the Pakistan People's Party as a last resort in the exercise of right of private defence of their person and property opened fire and it was as a result of that firing that one or two persons were injured from the other side. Learned counsel submitted that by that time complete chaoaprevailed, cross firing was going on and it was under these circumstances that Badar-uz- Zaman was hit and he died. Learned counsel submitted that in such circumstances it was impossible to pin-point a particular person or persons who fired the fatal shot. According to him, the petitioners were not even present and they had been implicated because of their prominence in their Party.
' It was further submitted that in the F. I. R. Lodged by Khurshid Ali, there is no mention about the iujuries received by the workers or the Pakistan People's Party. This concealment is suggestive of the fact that the complainant had not come with the correct version, reason for that being that he was aware of the weakness in the case because it was the complainant party who was the aggressor.
5. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the State simply opposed the confirmation of the bail but he did not advance any effective argument.
6. 22nd April 1977, when the alleged incident took place was a crucial day for both the political parties. Pakistan National Alliance had given a call all over the country for a general strike with a view to paralyse the administration and normal daily life whereas Pakistan People's Party wanted to defeat this move. Both the parties were out on roads fully prepared to demonstrate their respective strength; for the Pakistan National Alliance the basis was its popularity, Pakistan People's Party, had an additional advantage being in power as the Government were theirs. It was in this background and with this tempo that workers of both the Parties faced each other.
7. The medico-legal reports of the injured persons from the side of the petitioners prove beyond any shadow of doubt that the injuries were the result of fire-arms ; same is the position from the side of the complainant. The deceased also died as a result of fire-arm injuries.
8. Learned counsel placed on record a photostat copy of the F. L R. Which was lodged by one of their workers to prove that about the same incident there were two cross-cases which means two different versions. It is also correct that in the F. I. R. Lodged by the complainant there is no mention of the injuries suffered by the workers of the Pakistan People's Party.
9. No doubt, an innocent young boy of 18, lost his life in the incident, but at this stage it is not proper to express any opinion as to who the aggressor was and who was aggressed. I am, therefore, of the view that in the instant case there are sufficient grounds for further inquiry into the guilt of the petitioners. The plea of alibi raised by the petitioners can alas be examined in the inquiry. The petitioners are respectable law-abiding citizens. Two of them, namely, Raja Imtiaz Ahmad and Muhammad Afzal Wattoo are also gentlemen of the Bar.
10. For the foregoing reasons I confirm the ad interim anticiparory bail The petitioners are hereby directed to cooperate with the Police and to join the investigation whenever required. 111