1990 PLP 1558 (PCRLJ)

S. 497

Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order (4 of 1979), Art.3/4

Bail, grant of--Sealed parcels were sent to Chemical Examiner's office about ten days after recovery of heroin without explaining the delay

Material contained in packets was found to be a mixture having traces of heroin

Question whether mixture allegedly recovered from accused contained more than ten grams of heroin to bring the case within prohibitory clause of S.497, Cr.P.C. was yet to be determined

Matter thus needed further inquiry

Accused was in judicial lock up and was not required for investigation purposes

Challan had been submitted in Court and further detention of accused in judicial lock-up was not to serve any useful purpose

Accused was admitted to bail in circumstances. Sardar Muhammad Aslam Khan for Petitioner. Basit Babar for the State. On 11-5-1989 at Police Station Kotwali Bahawalpur a case under Article 3/4 of the Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order, 1979 was registered against Zia-ur-Rchman petitioner at the instance of Ali Akbar, Inspector, C.I.A. Staff, Bahawalpur.

2. The allegation against the petitioner is that on receiving information that he was selling heroin the complainant Inspector sent a decoy customer to him who purchased a packet of one gram of heroin from him for a price of Rs.50. The said packet was sealed into a parcel. Immediately thereafter the complainant formed a raiding party, trapped the petitioner and recovered from him 15 packets of heroin weighing 15 grams. The said packet was also sealed into a parcel. The petitioner was arrested. The packets containing heroin were sent to the Office of the Chemical Examiner for analysis.

3. On 12-5-1989 the petitioner was sent to the judicial lock-up from where he applied for his bail but his bail application was dismissed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Bahawalpur vide order dated 22-5-1989. He has now come to this Court for his bail.

4. I have heard the parties' counsel and have gone through the record.

5. Allegedly the heroin recovered from the petitioner was scaled into two separate parcels on 11-5-1989 but the packets were sent to the office of the Chemical Examiner on 21-5-1989 i.e. after about 10 days. There is no explanation of this inordinate delay in sending the said parcels to the said office. The Chemical Examiner has reported that both the packets contained "Heroin in traces". It means that the material contained in the packets was not pure heroin but was a mixture having traces of heroin. It is, therefore, yet to be determined ifl the mixture allegedly recovered from the petitioner contained more than 10 grams of heroin to bring the case within the prohibitory clause of section 497, Cr.P.C. The matter needs further inquiry. The petitioner is in the judicial lock-up. His person is not required for the purpose of investigation which is complete. The challan has been submitted in Court. His further detention in the judicial lock up would not serve any useful purpose. He is, therefore, admitted to bail in the sum of Rs.25,000 with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of A.C/Duty Magistrate, Bahawalpur. N.H.Q./Z-150/L Bail allowed