The view taken by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the Judgment reported as 2011 SCMR 611 has been modified by the larger bench of Supreme Court comprising upon Mr. Justice Mian Saqib Nisar Mr. Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa Mr. Justice Sh. Azmat Saeed Mr. Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman Mr. Justice Dost Muhammad Khan Criminal Appeal No. 19 of 201 in Criminal Appeal No. 19 of 2012, the correct legal position is as follows: (i) A process is issued to an accused person under section 204, Cr.P.C. when the court taking cognizance of the offence is of the “opinion” that there is “sufficient ground” for “proceeding” against the accused person and an opinion of a court about availability of sufficient ground for proceeding against an accused person cannot be equated with appearance of “reasonable grounds” to the court for “believing” that he “has been guilty” of an offence within the contemplation of sub-section (1) of section 497, Cr.P.C. Due to these differences in the words used in section 204 and section 497, Cr.P.C. the intent of the legislature becomes apparent that the provisions of section 91, Cr.P.C. and section 497, Cr.P.C. are meant to cater for different situations. (ii) If the court issuing process against an accused person decides to issue summons for appearance of the accused person before it then the intention of the court is not to put the accused person under any restraint at that stage and if the accused person appears before the court in response to the summons issued for his appearance then the court may require him to execute a bond, with or without sureties, so as to ensure his future appearance before the court as and when required. (iii) If in response to the summons issued for his appearance the accused person appears before the court but fails to submit the requisite bond for his future appearance to the satisfaction of the court or to provide the required sureties then the accused person may be committed by the court to custody till he submits the requisite bond or provides the required sureties . We may add that (iv) If the process issued by a court against an accused person under section 204, Cr.P.C. is through a warrant , bailable or non-bailable, then the accused person may be under some kind or form of restraint and, therefore, he may apply for his pre-arrest bail if he so chooses which may or may not be granted by the court depending upon the circumstances of the case but even in such a case upon appearance of the accused person before the court he may, in the discretion of the court, be required by the court to execute a bond for his future appearance , with or without sureties, obviating the requirement of bail.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 12:08:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015