Court wants action against fugitives

LAHORE:

The judge of a special court has directed the federal government to establish a special court for bringing those people under the law who escape abroad during their trial in a Pakistani court.

Special Court Central Judge Bakht Fakhar Bahzad on Tuesday issued a written order in a case related to escape of some accused to other countries during their trial.

The judge also sought a report from the concerned quarters by August 30, 2023 directing the federal government to establish the court as “required under the Section 93-A and 93-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)”.

The judge observed all federal governments have intentionally or due to reasons best known to them have left lacuna so that influential accused persons who manage to flee Pakistan could not be brought into the dock. “There is no such authority which could proceed against the absconders,” he said.

“If such [is the] commitment of all the federal governments since creation of Pakistan as they never bothered to comply with the provisions of Section 93-A and 93-B of CrPC, one can imagine the level of rule of law in Pakistan for the redressal of the grievance of the public at large.”

Section 93-A of the CrPC deals with sending of summons for service outside Pakistan while Section 93-B is about sending of warrants for execution outside Pakistan.

The judge noted that the order issued by this court cannot be allowed to be kept in cold storage. To avoid such an incongruous situation the legislature has clothed this court with power to punish the violators of the court orders.

“The violators of the orders passed by this court cannot escape from the legal punishment. Whether the federal government is justified in denying the order passed by this court as long as the benefits of the orders are not enjoyed by the public at large?” the judgment said.

It said the federal government cannot be allowed to sabotage the statutory provisions of law and the orders passed by this court.

Such undesirable behavior of all the federal governments established in Pakistan, it added, needs to be curbed and dealt with iron hand to uphold the dignity of the court, to prevent abuse of process of law and to establish the rule of law in this country.

The verdict said in response to the court's orders, government departments remain engaged in writing letters to each other but the orders are not complied with.

It said from the bare perusal of Section 93-A and 93-B of the CrPC, it becomes crystal clear that the summons issued by the Pakistan courts must be served outside Pakistan within the local limits of the jurisdiction of a court established or continued by the authority of the federal/central government in exercise of its foreign jurisdiction.

“The court shall send summons, in duplicate, by post or otherwise, to the presiding officer of that court to be served. Similar is the position when the warrants are issued for the production of the accused.

If an accused succeeds to flee Pakistan without facing trial, he/she cannot be declared a proclaimed offender until conditions or procedures mentioned in Section 93-A and 93-B of CrPC are not fulfilled.

It said at this juncture, the question arises whether the federal government has established any court for service of summons and executions of warrants of the accused who has managed to get rid of the criminal case pending against him.

Incorrect reports

The judge expressed his dismay over the conduct of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in compliance with the court’s orders. It was learnt that the court had been issuing bailable and then non-bailable arrest warrants of the accused persons but sometimes the FIA submits incorrect compliance reports.

After that the court is told that the accused person has left for abroad.

He said time and again the FIA was warned against deputing “mentally distorted and insufficient” persons in this court for execution of the warrants of arrests. “It seems the FIA [chief] has become unconcerned about what is happening in this court and how the prosecution is being conducted.”

Section 93-A and Section 94-B of the CrPC

93-A sending of summons for service outside Pakistan

1- Where a court in Pakistan desires that a summons issued by it to an accused person shall be served at any place outside (Pakistan) within the local limits of the jurisdiction of a court established or continued by the authority of the federal government in exercise of its foreign jurisdiction, it shall send such summons, in duplicate, by post or otherwise, to the presiding officer of that court to be served.

2- The provisions of section 74 shall apply in the case of a summons sent for service under this section as if the presiding officer of the court to whom it was sent were a magistrate in Pakistan.

93-B sending of warrant for execution outside Pakistan

Notwithstanding anything contained in section 82, where a court in Pakistan desires that a warrant issued it for the arrest of an accused person shall be executed at any place outside Pakistan within the local limits of the jurisdiction of a court established or continued by the authority of the federal government in exercise of its foreign jurisdiction, it may send such warrant, by post or otherwise, to the presiding officer of that court to be executed.