Islamabad (Web Desk): The Supreme Court declared that women accused of offences even that fall within the prohibitory clause of subsection (1) of Section 497 of CrPC are entitled to a grant of bail barring exceptional circumstances.
The top court heard the post-arrest bail of a woman involved in the offences punishable under Sections 395 and 412 of PPC.
In the judgment authored by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, the court noted that irrespective of the category of offence, the court was empowered to grant bail to the accused involved in offences even that fall within the prohibitory clause of subsection (1) of Section 497 of CrPC because they attract the principle that grant of bail was a rule and refusal an exception.
The judgement said that the first proviso to Section 497(1) CrPC provides that the court “may direct that any person” under the age of sixteen years or any woman or any sick or infirm person accused of such an offence be released on bail.
It is noteworthy that for non-bailable offences, Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provides that the accused shall not be given bail if there are “reasonable grounds for believing” that they are “guilty of an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for ten years”.
The judgment noted that the first part of Section 497(1) CrPC provides that if a person accused of a non-bailable offence is arrested, he may be released on bail. Since the enabling expression of “may be released on bail” is used in this part, read with the basic principles of criminal justice, the grant of bail in a non-bailable offence that does not fall within the second part of Section 497(1) CrPC is said to be a rule and refusal an exception.
“The second part of Section 497(1) CrPC provides that an accused shall not be released on bail if there appear reasonable grounds for believing that he has been guilty of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life or imprisonment for ten years. This part of Section 497(1) CrPC which prohibits the grant of bail in certain offences is popularly known as the prohibitory clause of Section 497(1) CrPC.”
However, the order said that the first proviso to Section 497(1) CrPC provides that the court may direct that any person under the age of sixteen years or any woman or any sick or infirm person accused of such an offence be released on bail.