Proceedings in a Private Complaint
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What was this case about?
Nasir was accused in a criminal case (FIR) alleging he fired indiscriminately at someone, registered under sections of the Pakistan Penal Code dealing with causing hurt with dangerous weapons. He had been arrested and was in custody, seeking bail while his trial was pending.
What happened procedurally?
The police completed their investigation and filed a report ("challan") in court. However, the complainant was unhappy with how the police investigated the matter, so he separately filed his own "private complaint" covering the same incident. The trial court then summoned the accused in this private complaint case and began proceeding with that trial instead. As a result, the original police case (challan) became inactive, or "dormant," since the court's attention shifted to the complainant's private case.
What did the court decide?
The Lahore High Court held that since the police case had effectively stalled due to the parallel private complaint proceedings, there was no good reason to keep denying the accused bail in that dormant case. The court ruled that going forward, questions about the accused's attendance would be handled under Section 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code within the private complaint proceedings instead. The court granted bail, requiring the accused to post a bond of Rs. 100,000 with one surety of equal value.
Why does this matter?
The case illustrates how Pakistani courts handle situations where two parallel cases (a police case and a private complaint) exist for the same incident, and clarifies that an accused shouldn't remain in custody indefinitely on a case that has become proced
یہ مقدمہ کس بارے میں تھا؟
ناصر ایک فوجداری مقدمے (ایف آئی آر) میں ملزم تھا جس میں الزام تھا کہ اس نے کسی شخص پر اندھا دھند فائرنگ کی۔ یہ مقدمہ پاکستان پینل کوڈ کی ان دفعات کے تحت درج کیا گیا تھا جو خطرناک ہتھیاروں سے زخمی کرنے سے متعلق ہیں۔ ملزم کو گرفتار کر لیا گیا تھا اور وہ حراست میں تھا، اور اپنے مقدمے کی سماعت کے دوران ضمانت کا خواستگار تھا۔
قانونی کارروائی میں کیا ہوا؟
پولیس نے تفتیش مکمل کر کے عدالت میں چالان جمع کروا دیا۔ تاہم مدعی پولیس کی تفتیش کے طریقہ کار سے مطمئن نہیں تھا، اس لیے اس نے اسی واقعے سے متعلق الگ سے اپنی نجی شکایت (پرائیویٹ کمپلینٹ) دائر کر دی۔ ٹرائل کورٹ نے اس نجی شکایت میں ملزم کو طلب کر لیا اور اسی مقدمے کی کارروائی آگے بڑھانا شروع کر دی۔ نتیجتاً پولیس کا اصل مقدمہ (چالان) غیر فعال یا "خوابیدہ" ہو کر رہ گیا، کیونکہ عدال
Generated from the full judgment text below — not a substitute for reading the actual opinion.
PLJ 2014 Cr.C . ( Lahore ) 418 [ Multan Bench Multan ] Present: Ibad-ur-Rehman Lodhi , J. NASIR --Petitioner versus STATE and another --Respondents Crl . Misc. No. 3610-B of 2013, decided on 26.9.2013. Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 (V of 1898)-- ----S. 91--In private complaint, after summoning accused, trial Court has proceeded with trial and by such act, proceedings in challan case have naturally become dormant--Future proceedings with regard to attendance of accused persons would be regulated under Section 91, Cr.P.C . in complaint case and there is no justification to withhold concession of bail in challan case which, has become dormant--Bail was allowed. [P. 419] A Rana Muhammad Asif Saeed , Advocate for Petitioner. Ch. Muhammad Akbar , Deputy Prosecutor General Punjab for State. Mian Qayyum Nawaz Meo , Advocate for Complainant. Date of hearing: 26.9.2013. Order Nasir -petitioner seeks post-arrest bail in case FIR No. 120, dated 9.05.2011 offences under Section 324/34, PPC registered at Police Station Makdhum Pur , District Khanewal .
2. In the challan case, there was an allegation of indiscriminate firing by the petitioner. On 17.05.2013, a direction was issued to the learned trial Court for expeditious trial and conclusion of the same within a period of one month in Criminal Miscellaneous No. 13-B of 2013. Neither the trial of challan could have been concluded in the said time nor there are any chances of its conclusion on account of filing of private complaint by the complainant of the case showing his dissatisfaction with the findings arrived at in investigation in challan case. In private complaint, after summoning the accused, learned trial Court has proceeded with the trial and by such act, the proceedings in challan case have naturally become dormant. The future proceedings with regard to the attendance of the accused persons would be regulated under Section 91, Cr.P.C . in complaint case and there is no justification to withhold the concession of bail in challan case which, as noted above, has become dormant.
3. Resultantly, this petition is allowed and the petitioner is ordered to be released on bail, subject to his furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lac only) with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court. (R.A.) Bail allowed