SC grants bail to accused of smuggling 3.5kg of hashish

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to an accused of smuggling some 3.5 kilograms of hashish after some contradictory facts and flaws were found on the part of prosecution.

A two-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, accepted the bail application of Muhammad Saqib, who was arrested in Kohat for smuggling some 3.5 kilograms of hashish. The court released the accused on surety bond of Rs2 lacs. During the course of hearing, Justice Qazi Faez Isa took a strong exception to the prosecution’s errors and contradictory facts in the case.

The judge observed that lack of professional skills on the part of prosecution leads to punishment of innocent people while real culprits are acquitted. "Nobody sees the flaws of prosecution but all complain against the courts," Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked adding that it was claimed in the First Information Report (FIR) that hashish was recovered from the accused during a Naka Bandi.

“Why the police are least bothered to make video of culprits during Naka Bandi,” the judge questioned adding that if an accused refused to have been present at the time of incident, then what would happen.

The judge further observed that every policeman had a mobile phone and asked as to whether the Ministry of Interior did not receive the information that everybody had a cell phone.

"I don’t understand yet as to why photographs of the accused persons were not taken during such Naka Bandis," Justice Isa said. The judge further said that nowadays even a two-year child has started using mobile phone.

The judge observed that the police recovered the hashish without a tip-off but through a random Naka Bandi adding that the police submitted a challan against the accused but did not give details about the owner of the vehicle.

The state counsel, however, told the court that the Excise Department has been asked to provide details pertaining to the owner of the vehicle. The judge, however, questioned if the department was in Pakistan or abroad as no details had been provided so far and further asked the state counsel as to whether a case had been filed against the Excise Department for not providing the details. "It's surprising that the Excise Department is not replying even to the police," Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked.

Meanwhile, the court accepted the bail application of the accused on the basis of weak prosecution as well as contradictory facts, narrated in the case and released Muhammad Saqib on surety bond of Rs2 lacs.