ISLAMABAD: In the light of the observation by the apex court that “not every ailment entitles an accused to be released on bail unless such a malady is found life-threatening or without possible cure in the prison”, the court for Control of Narcotic Substances began the expeditious trial of an accused who was recently released on bail on medical grounds as he was suffering from haemorrhoids problem.

The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Rawalpindi arrested Syed Paras Ali last year on Dec 4 as 3.6 kilograms of hashish was found in his possession. The ANF submitted a challan against the accused in the Control of Narcotic Substances court of Islamabad.

The accused applied for post-arrest bail to the court in January this year but the application was dismissed.

Moreover, the Islamabad High Court in February rejected his bail plea and the Supreme Court also declined to grant him bail.

Apex court had earlier ruled ‘not every ailment entitles accused to bail’

The accused then filed a petition before the Islamabad High Court seeking bail on medical grounds.

His lawyer, Chaudhry Mushtaq Ahmed, argued before the court that his client was suffering from haemorrhoids problem and his condition was deteriorating day by day. This is because in the recent past his client was hit by a gunshot and a bullet got lodged in his abdomen, the lawyer told the court. Following the treatment of his bullet-related injury, his client had developed the problem of haemorrhoids.

But the prosecution argued before the court that the accused had undergone proper treatment in a hospital which included medication for his injury and then he was shifted to jail premises.

The prosecution further argued that a medical board had assessed the condition of the accused and was of the opinion that he was not in a critical or serious state.

After hearing both the sides, the court’s division bench ruled that since the accused “could not manage his routine affairs due to his firearm injury in the lower abdominal region … (is) suffering from bleeding in his rectum, is losing weight in a drastic manner, in such an eventuality the suggested treatment seems to be impossible in the jail premises”.

Thus, on Aug 8 the court granted the accused bail subject to the furnishing of bail bonds for a sum of Rs200,000. The ANF challenged this verdict before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court’s three-member bench comprising Justices Manzoor Ahmed Malik, Sajjad Ali Shah and Qazi Mohammad Amin Ahmed authored the judgement on the case on Oct 17 in which they observed that in the past the accused had made attempts to secure bail and the Islamabad High Court had granted him one.

The bench went through his medical report and was of the view that the “report apparently does not suggest any serious health disorder beyond haemorrhoids, nor does it appear to require any treatment not possible in the jail hospital. It does not suggest any special procedure for the respondent [the accused] as well”.

The Supreme Court, though, did not agree with the reasoning for the granting of the bail since his earlier bail petition had been dismissed by it. However, the court observed that “since the trial has commenced [and] likely to be concluded soon and concession has not been abused, we do not consider it expedient to recall the bail”.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2019