Supreme Court again expresses displeasure over delay in deciding bail pleas

Accused managed to flee from court after his bail plea was rejected

KARACHI: For the second day in a row, the Supreme Court (SC) expressed its displeasure with the Sindh High Court (SHC) for unnecessary delays in deciding bail pleas. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, made the observation before rejecting the bail plea of Ratan, who is accused of injuring a citizen with an axe. After the decision, the accused managed to flee from the court.

The CJP inquired why the SHC was taking this much time with a bail plea. The decision of bail is the easiest, he said, adding that if bail pleas were taking this much time, then how long would decisions on main appeals take.

The case against the accused is registered at Umerkot Police Station. Ratan injured a man named Prem with an axe in 2015. The verdict on the bail plea, filed in the SHC in 2017, was announced in 2019.

Bail confirmed

The same bench confirmed the bail of accused Abdul Razzaq in a case pertaining to a bounced cheque of Rs5 million during business transactions.

The bench, while sitting in Islamabad, heard the case at Karachi registry through video link on Tuesday.

Justice Khosa remarked that the case has been continuing since 2015 adding that it is a strange matter.

Counsel for the accused said that Razaq has submitted one million rupees in cash and property worth Rs4m.

Addressing the petitioner's counsel, the court said that when the payment had been received, what was the point of sending the accused to jail, other than pleasing his ego? The court remarked that it wanted the case to conclude immediately and the statements of the witnesses should be recorded soon.

The court confirmed the bail plea filed by Razzaq and directed him to cooperate fully with the trial court.



The court had ordered the accused to submit Rs1m in cash and property worth Rs4m as surety of bail on the last hearing.

The case against the accused is registered in Hyderabad on behalf of Daniyal Siddiqui. According to the defence counsel, the accused and the petitioner signed a contract of Rs10m for mango gardens. My client was implicated in a case of bounced cheque of Rs5m, said the defence counsel.

Review plea rejected

Meanwhile, the bench rejected the review plea filed by former judge in the case pertaining to the death of the civil judge's son in a road accident. The court was hearing former judge Wafa Nawaz Shar's review plea against the SC's observation in the case.

The petitioner's counsel argued that the observation made by the court was not appropriate. The prosecution supported the petitioner. This observation will affect the decision taken on the appeals.

The court rejected the review plea. The plea maintained that former judge Shar's son, Yasir Nawaz was killed in 2004.

The verdict that acquitted the accused, Asad Ali and Ali Abbas, should be annulled.

According to police, deceased Yasir Nawaz's family filed a murder case against the accused. A subordinate court sentenced Jamshed Ali to life imprisonment and sentenced other accused, Sardar Ali, Mumtaz Ali and Nusrat Ali, to 17 years of imprisonment each while accused, Asad Ali and Ali Abbas were acquitted in the case. The accused who were sentenced to life imprisonment had also filed an appeal against their sentences.

Bail accepted

The same bench accepted the pre-arrest bail plea of accused police official Naseer Ahmed against a surety of Rs100,000.

The court directed the accused to cooperate with the trial court.

According to police, the case against the accused is registered at Gharo Police Station.

Fake allotment case

The apex court extended the interim bails of accused, Amjad and Aslam Parvez, in the case pertaining to fake allotments of 530 acres of coastal land.

Another three-member bench comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Munib Akhtar also heard the case at Karachi registry through video link.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) deputy prosecutor-general and other officials appeared before the court.

NAB deputy prosecutor-general maintained that the accused made fake entries of coastal land in connivance with former board of revenue senior member, Shazir Shamoon. The accused allotted land through fake entries and the allotment was cancelled later.

The court extended the interim bails of accused, Amjad and Aslam Parvez, till June 3.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2019.