Rahim Bakhsh and another V. The State,
PLD 2018 Balochistan 8 · Balochistan High Court
This case involved two men, Rahim Bakhsh and another appellant, who were booked in a murder case and declared absconders by a trial court in 2009. Because they allegedly failed to appear, the court attached their immovable property under the law dealing with proclaimed offenders. The men were eventually tried and acquitted in 2012. Two years later, in 2014, they asked the trial court to return their attached property, but the court refused, saying their request came too late, since the law requires such applications to be filed within two years of the attachment.
The Balochistan High Court overturned this decision. It examined the legal procedure the trial court had followed when declaring the men absconders and attaching their property, and found it was seriously flawed. The law requires a proper public proclamation giving the accused at least thirty days to appear, along with a written court record confirming when and how that proclamation was published. In this case, no such valid proclamation or written confirmation existed, and the court had issued both the proclamation and the attachment order on virtually the same day, making the process legally defective from the start.
Because the original proceedings were conducted without proper legal authority, the High Court ruled they were invalid altogether, meaning the two-year time limit for seeking restoration never properly applied. The appeal was allowed, the attachment order was cancelled, and the men's property was ordered returned to them. The case highlights the importance of strict procedural compliance before the state can seize a person's property.
یہ مقدمہ دو افراد، رحیم بخش اور ایک اور اپیل کنندہ، سے متعلق ہے جنہیں ایک قتل کے مقدمے میں ملزم بنایا گیا تھا اور 2009 میں ٹرائل کورٹ نے انہیں مفرور قرار دے دیا تھا۔ چونکہ مبینہ طور پر وہ عدالت میں پیش نہیں ہوئے تھے، اس لیے عدالت نے مفرور مجرموں سے متعلق قانون کے تحت ان کی غیر منقولہ جائیداد ضبط کر لی۔ بالآخر ان پر مقدمہ چلایا گیا اور 2012 میں وہ بری ہو گئے۔ اس کے دو سال بعد، 2014 میں، انہوں نے ٹرائل کورٹ سے اپنی ضبط شدہ جائیداد واپس کرنے کی درخواست کی، لیکن عدالت نے یہ کہتے ہوئے انکار کر دیا کہ ان کی درخواست وقت گزرنے کے بعد دی گئی ہے، کیونکہ قانون کے مطابق ایسی درخواستیں ضبطی کے دو سال کے اندر دائر کی جانی چاہییں۔
بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ نے اس فیصلے کو کالعدم قرار دے دیا۔ عدالت نے اس قانونی طریقہ کار کا جائزہ لیا جو ٹرائل کورٹ نے ان افراد کو مفرور قرار دیتے