ISLAMABAD, Dec 11: The Supreme Court has issued notices to the attorney-general and the advocates-general of the four provinces to assist it to determine if courts have the power to permit the parties to compound offences barred by the Qisas and Diyat law.

A bench comprising Justice Mian Mohammad Ajmal, Justice Sardar Raza Khan and Justice Karamat Nazir Bhindari said the issue of compounding offences was very important and decided to hear the case in which parties had pardoned offences which were not covered under section 345 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

“This being an important question of law of public importance, leave is granted to consider the same. Notice to the attorney-general for Pakistan and the advocates-general of the provinces be issued for a date to be fixed by the office in the first week of December, 2003,” the apex court bench said in its order granting leave for appeal.

The case, though not listed in the first week, is likely to be taken up during the current month.

Petitioner Mohammad Rawab and five others were awarded life imprisonment on the charge of kidnapping a person to extort money. The conviction was maintained by the Lahore High Court and the petitioner challenged the verdict before the Supreme Court.

While the petition was pending in the Supreme Court, a compromise was submitted stating that the complainant had pardoned the petitioner. The compromise was sent to the trial court for ascertaining whether it was made voluntarily by the complainant. The Rawalpindi sessions judge informed the Supreme Court that the compromise was genuine and voluntary.

During the scrutiny of the compromise, the Supreme Court noticed that offences under Section 365-A (kidnapping for ransom), read with section 7(e) of the Anti-Terrorism Act were not compoundable.

It decided to examine the question “whether a court can permit the parties to compound the offences which are not compoundable as mentioned in Section 345 CrPC (Qisas and Diyat Ordinance), specially when there is bar under Section 345(7) of the CrPC for entertaining a compromise in the offences not mentioned in Section 345 CrPC.”