LHC rejects bail over accused's unrepentant behaviour

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has turned down a bail plea, ruling that the petitioner's "unrepentance" and "intransigence" warranted dismissal, even though the alleged offences do not fall under the category of non-bailable offences.

The case involved Tariq Rehman Chohan, who had misappropriated Rs3 million mistakenly transferred into his bank account.

When approached by the bank, the accused issued a cheque of the same amount to discharge his liability, but it bounced due to insufficient funds. An FIR was subsequently lodged under Section 489-F of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of the bank's operations manager.

During proceedings, Chohan's counsel argued that Section 489-F of the PPC does not fall under the prohibitory clause of Section 497 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

He maintained that the offence carried an alternate punishment of fine, that no case was prima facie made out from the FIR and that the petitioner's account had been blocked without justification.

He contended the fault lay with the bank, warranting the case as one of further inquiry.

However, the prosecution opposed bail, asserting that the accused had knowingly misappropriated funds transferred by mistake and deliberately adopted a deceptive course.

The law officer submitted that Chohan was liable not only under Section 489-F PPC but also under Section 406 PPC, relating to criminal breach of trust.

Justice Tanveer Ahmad Sheikh observed that the petitioner was obliged to inform the bank about the mistaken transfer and arrange its return. Instead, he withdrew Rs2.5 million for personal use. "As such an offence punishable under Section 406 of PPC fully attracted against him," Justice Sheikh remarked.

He added that when the bank pressed for recovery, the petitioner issued a Rs3 million cheque, which was dishonoured, bringing Section 489-F into play as well.