Islamabad: The Supreme Court has held that an accused who has remained in custody for more than one year in a criminal case is entitled to bail under the third proviso to Section 497(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) if the delay in conclusion of the trial is not attributable to him or any person acting on his behalf.
The court observed that it was the prosecution’s responsibility to ensure that an under-trial prisoner was produced before the court on every hearing. Any delay caused by jail authorities’ failure to produce the accused could not be attributed to him.
A three-member bench comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Aqeel Ahmad Abbasi, in a detailed judgment authored by Justice Abbasi, accepted the bail plea of Chaudhry Shahzaib Shamim in a cheque dishonour case and set aside the relevant orders of the Islamabad High Court and trial court.
The court noted that neither the accused nor his counsel had sought adjournment at any stage. The record showed that the proceedings remained pending mainly because the accused was not produced from jail. The trial court had issued production warrants on April 13, but he was not produced despite the order.
The court observed that during more than one-and-a-half years, the prosecution neither took effective steps to ensure the accused’s production nor produced its witnesses. Therefore, the delay could not be attributed to the accused.
The judgment held that under the CrPC, an accused detained for an offence not punishable with death for more than one year should be released on bail where the delay in trial is not caused by an act or omission attributable to him.
The court further held that the accused’s involvement in other cases, by itself, was not sufficient to deny him the statutory right to bail on the ground of delay, particularly where the offence did not fall within the prohibitory clause of Section 497(1).
The case arose from an First Information Report registered at Sihala Police Station, Islamabad, on April 5, 2025 when a cheque of Rs 10m issued by the accused was dishonoured.
The court noted that Section 489-F carries a maximum punishment of three years’ imprisonment, fine, or both. The accused had already spent more than one-and-a-half years in custody, yet his trial had not commenced.
The Supreme Court converted the bail petition into an appeal and allowed it, setting aside the relevant orders of the trial court and Islamabad High Court and upholding his release on bail on the ground of statutory delay.