2010 P Cr (PLP)

SHAHID HAMEED DAR, J.

Muhammad Iqbal Lali, petitioner stands arrested in case F.I.R. No.415 of 2008 dated 15-9-2008 under sections 496-A, 376, P.P.C. registered at Police Station, Miana Gondal, District Mandi Bahauddin, on the complaint of one Liaqat Ali who has alleged in the F.I.R. that he along with his wife and daughter Mst. Nabila Liaqat was going to village Hajjan from village Sharewal on a motorcycle to meet his relatives; when he turned towards Raidka, a black colour car bearing no registration number, intercepted them wherein accused Muhammad Iqbal (petitioner) and three unknown persons armed with firearms were sitting; they abducted Mst. Nabila Liaqat at gunpoint and drove away their vehicle with the abductee; the occurrence was witnessed by Mahar Iqbal.

2. The alleged abductee was recovered on 20-9-2008 who joined the investigation the same day and recorded her statement under section 161, Cr.P.C. wherein she alleged that she was taken to an unknown place by her abductors where they, Muhammad Iqbal Lali (petitioner), Pervez Jamil, Imran Sadiq and an unknown accused committed Zina Bil Jabr with her; she further deposed that Iqbal Lali, then, brought her to Lali Palace where he joined by Imran Sadiq again forcibly raped her; she, however managed to escape from the said building on 20-9-2008, finding its doors, open; she was medically examined on 23-9-2008 at DHQ, Hospital Mandi Bahauddin; she, for the purpose of her statement under section 164, Cr.P.C, was produced before learned Judicial Magistrate Mandi Bahauddin on 25-9-2008 but her statement was not recorded as the learned Magistrate, found her repeat the same statement as made by her under section 161, Cr.P.C.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has been falsely implicated in this case under a deep-rooted conspiracy, hatched up by the complainant and his master Muhammad Iqbal son of Ghulam Ali, who was the principal accused of case F.I.R. No.91 of 2008 dated 1-3-2008 under sections 302, 324, 148, 149, 109, P.P.C. got lodged by the petitioner, in connection with an occurrence wherein his driver Muhammad Siddique was murdered and his wife Mst. Shama Iqbal along with her brother Shahzad received multiple -firearm injuries; the petitioner was found innocent by the I.O. after thorough investigation and he was duly discharged from this case by the learned Judicial Magistrate on 1-11-2008; the report of Chemical Examiner reveals that the vaginal swabs of the alleged victim were not stained with semen; the complainant moved an application under sections 22-A/22-B, Cr.P.C. against the Investigation Officer which was dismissed on 7-11-2008 by the learned Ex-Officio Justice of Peace; the medico legal certificate of the alleged victim does not support the prosecution case which is also delayed by many days; the petitioner was arrested in this case on 15-6-2010 as non-bailable warrants of arrest of the petitioner were issued by the learned trial Court without even looking at the data collected by the Investigation Officer; the case of the petitioner falls within the ambit of further inquiry as enunciated under section 497(2), Cr.P.C.

4. On the other hand it has been argued by the learned Deputy Prosecutor-General assisted by learned counsel for the complainant that the petitioner has committed a heinous offence as he along with his co-assailants had forcibly abducted the virgin daughter of the complainant and subjected her to gang rape; the prosecution witnesses including the victim fully support the allegations contained in the F.I.R. the medical evidence lends complete corroboration to the eye-witness account; the learned trial Court passed an order for arrest of the petitioner as the order of discharge passed by the Magistrate was not found satisfactory; the petitioner has the history of involvement in various criminal cases at different police stations which shows his desperate character; the offence with which the petitioner is charged is punishable with death or imprisonment for life; there are no reasons to believe that the petitioner's case calls for further inquiry under section 497(2), Cr.P.C.

5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.

6. The petitioner has been saddled with the liability of forcible abduction of Mst. Nabila Liaqat, 'the daughter of the complainant who on rejoining her family, joined the investigation and recorded her statement under section 161, Cr.P.C. wherein she alleged that she had been subjected to Zina Bil Jabr by the petitioner and his co-accused. She has also mentioned about her escape from the residential house of the petitioner as she found the doors ajar. The stance of the petitioner before the Investigation Officer, right from day one is that he had been falsely implicated in this case due to mischievous wire pulling by one Muhammad Iqbal son of Ghulam Ali the alleged master of Liaqat Ali, complainant, as he had been nominated as an accused by Muhammad Iqbal Lali (petitioner) in a Murder Case No.91 of 2008 supra registered at Police Station, Saddar Mandi Bahauddin, wherein his wife and his brother-in-law were also badly wounded. Liaqat Ali complainant, according to the version of the petitioner and that of many who joined investigation in this case on behalf of the petitioner, was a servant of said Muhammad Iqbal son of Ghulam Ali for many years and he with a view to please his master had consented to be used as a tool. The escape of the alleged victim from the palatial residence of the petitioner on 20-9-2008 is startling which does not appear to be more than a gossip. The medical evidence qua Mst. Nabila is not consistent with the averments of the F.I.R. as the Woman Medical Officer found the edges of intro'itus torn old and consistency was loose. Such a condition of the hymen presents almost a different state of affairs as compared to the principles of medical jurisprudence on the subject. The report of the Chemical Examiner qua the vaginal swabs of the alleged victim is negative, as the same have not been found stained with semen. A number of persons appeared before the Investigation Officer on behalf of the petitioner to state that he was innocent and had been implicated in this case only on the inducement of Muhammad Iqbal Kharal who had used his servant, Liaqat Ali, complainant, to humiliate and wreck Muhammad Iqbal Lali, the petitioner and his family. Throughout investigation 'of this case the enmity between Muhammad Iqbal Lali, the petitioner and Muhammad Iqbal Kharal had been under discussion on both the sides which indicates that the said enmity has played an important role in registration of the instant F.I.R.

7. The troika of the complainant Liaqat Ali, the petitioner and Muhammad Iqbal Kharal had been made to sit face to face during the course of investigation by the I.O. and Muhammad Iqbal Kharal opposed the petitioner and his companions by the skin of his teeth, outspokenly, being a. spokesman of Liaqat Ali complainant which discloses a close liaison between the complainant and said Muhammad Iqbal Kharal. The petitioner was finally held innocent after extensive investigation. The case was recommended for cancellation and a report under section 173, Cr.P.C. was prepared in this respect by the I.O. on 28-10-2008.

8. The opinion of the Investigation Officer of course, does not bind the court in any manner yet, the courts can peep into its persuasiveness and vitality for the purpose of grant or refusal of bail to an accused, though tentatively. The learned Magistrate concurred with the finding of the police vide order dated 1-11-2008 and discharged the petitioner from the instant case.

9. The learned trial Court however, summoned the petitioner during the course of the trial and finally caused his arrest through non-bailable warrants of arrest on 15-6-2010. Mere factum of involvement of the petitioner in some other criminal cases, without any conviction, cannot render the accused as a desperate or a hardened criminal. The false implication of the petitioner in this case due to the previous enmity and litigation between the parties, coupled with a touch of hostility from above named Iqbal Kharal, cannot be ruled out. There are reasonable grounds to believe that the case of the petitioner is open to further inquiry into his guilt within the meaning of section 497(2), Cr.P.C.

10. For the foregoing reasons, I accept this application and admit the petitioner to post-arrest bail in the sum of Rs.1,00,000 with two sureties in the like amount to .the satisfaction of the learned trial Court. N.H.Q./M-458/L Bail allowed.