Abdul Rasheed, etc VS The State ,

ORDER SHEET

ISLAMABAD HIGH COURT, ISLAMABAD.

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.

Criminal Misc. No. 482-B of 2021 Abdul Rasheed and another

Versus The State and another

S.No. of Date of Order with signature of Judge and that of parties order/ order/ or counsel where necessary. proceeding proceeding

02.27.05.2021 Mr. Aamir Abbas Malik and Mr. Siraab Khan, Advocates for the petitioners / accused. Mr. Saqlain Haider, Assistant Attorney General. Qaiser Masood, Additional Director Law/Deputy Legal Advisor, FIA.

Rehana Kausar, Inspector, FIA, ACC, Islamabad.

Through the instant petition, the petitioners seek bail after arrest in a case F.I.R. No. 13/2021, dated 29.04.2021, offence under section 4, 9, 23 Foreign Exchange Regulation (FER) ACT, 1947, registered at police station FIA/CBC Circle, Islamabad.

02.It is alleged that the petitioners / accused were found running business of foreign exchange without having any permission from the lawful authority, hence the instant FIR.

03.Learned Counsel for the petitioners inter-alia contends that the petitioners / accused are innocent and have not committed any offence; the allegations leveled against them are baseless and absurd; they have falsely been implicated in this case by FIA just in order to harass and pressurize them; alleged offence does not

fall within the prohibitory clause of Section C r 497 Cr.P.C.; investigation of the case has i been completed, therefore, petitioners / m accused are entitled for grant of the post i n arrest bail.

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04.Conversely, Learned Assistant l Attorney General vehemently opposed the

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bail petition and has stated that petitioners / i accused are also involved in three other s c cases. He has further stated that petitioners / accused are caught red handed while dealing with the foreign exchange without N o any license or authorization from the State Bank of Pakistan, hence they are not entitled for grant of bail after arrest. 4

05.I have considered the arguments 2 advanced by learned counsel for the -

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petitioners / accused, learned Assistant Attorney General and perused the record with o their able assistance. f

06.Section 23 of the Foreign Exchange 2 Regulation Act, 1947 provides punishment of 0 imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both.

Subsequently, vide Foreign Exchange C r Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020, the i punishment was enhanced which may extend m to five years or with fine or with both. i n

07.As far as the registration of other cases is a concerned, the learned counsel states that the l

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petitioners / accused have not been convicted in C r any other case. It has been held by the Hon’ble i Supreme Court of Pakistan in case titled as “Babar m Hussain V. The State and another” (2020 SCMR i n 871), that “mere involvement of an accused in a other criminal cases (without any conviction in any l of them) could not be a ground to withhold the

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concession of bail”.

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08.The offence does not fall within the s c prohibitory clause of section 497 Cr.P.C. Reliance is placed upon “2020 SCMR 1258, 2020 SCMR 717, 2017 PLD 733, 2016 SCMR 1439 and 2011 SCMR N o 1708”; wherein it is held that “where a case fell within non-prohibitory clause of section 497 Cr.P.C. the concession of granting bail must be 4 favorably considered and should only be denied in the exceptional circumstances”. -

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09.It is well settled principle of law that while deciding the bail application, before o recording of evidence in the trial Court, only f tentative assessment is to be made by the Court and it is not permissible to go into 0 details of evidence in one way or the other 2 that might prejudice the case of either party.

In this regard reliance is placed upon PLD 94

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Supreme Court 65, PLD 94 Supreme Court 88, r i 2021 SCMR 111 and 2020 SCMR 937.

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10.I do not find this to be a case where i n bail should be refused as an exception. a Ultimate conviction can repair the wrong l

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caused by mistaken relief of bail after C r arrest but no satisfactory reparation can be i offered to the accused for his unjustified m incarceration if he is acquitted ultimately. i n

11.Investigation in the case has been a completed and the petitioners / accused are no l more required for the purpose of investigation.

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They are behind the bars. Trial of the petitioners / i accused has not seen any fruitful progress as yet. s c Fair and speedy trial is one of the fundamental rights of the petitioners; no moral and legal compulsion exists to keep them behind the bars for N o an indefinite period which amounts to punishment without trial.

12.A tentative assessment of record shows that present petitioners have made out 2 a case of further inquiry as envisaged under -

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Section 497(2) Cr.P.C.

13.In view of above, instant petition is o f accepted and the petitioners are admitted to bail subject to furnishing bail bonds in the 2 sum of Rs. 50,000/- (Fifty Thousand only) 0 each with one surety each in the like amount to the satisfaction of learned trial Court.

14.Needless o mention that, this is a C r tentative assessment which shall not affect i the trial of case in any manner. m i n (TARIQ MEHMOOD JAHANGIRI) a JUDGE l Bilal

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