Judge cancels bail ‘granted to impersonator’

Petitioner was in police custody during bail hearing.


Rana Yasif January 09, 2012

LAHORE:


An additional district and sessions judge on Monday cancelled an interim bail order after discovering that the person produced before him to obtain the bail was not the petitioner but an impersonator.


Judge Chaudhry Aurangzeb had granted interim bail to Chaudhry Naveed Ahmed, who was accused of writing a cheque that bounced, for Rs50,000 on January 7. Civil Lines police had arrested Ahmed earlier that day.

Upon his arrest, Ahmed told the police that he had already obtained an interim bail order, but he did not have it on him. The police gave him a few hours to arrange for a copy. Ahmed’s lawyer later handed the police a certificate stating that he had been granted interim bail but the order could not be typed up as the lights had gone out in the court. The police refused to release him and the next day Ahmed was produced before a magistrate.

The complainant told Magistrate Masroor Anwar at the Cantt Court that a man posing as the accused had presented himself before the additional district and sessions judge for the interim bail hearing. The magistrate directed the investigation officer in the case to approach the relevant court.

On Monday, ADSJ Aurangzeb heard the complainant’s application asking that the court look at CCTV footage and compare the thumb print and signatures in documents submitted to the court to determine if the person produced in court on January 7 was the actual accused. The complainant’s lawyer, Advocate Haseeb Bin Yousaf, said that at the time of the interim bail hearing, Chaudhry Naveed Ahmed was in police custody.

The judge directed his stenographer, lawyers from both sides and the investigation officer to examine the CCTV footage. However, officials at the CCTV control room reported that the camera in the court in question was out of order and there was no footage available from January 7. They did not see the accused in footage from that date of the scene outside the courtroom.

The judge then examined the signatures and thumbprints and established that they were made by different people. The judge then directed the investigation officer to proceed according to the law and report to him on January 17.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2012.

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