Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khan Khosa on Friday hinted at reviewing the rules for granting pre-arrest bails in criminal cases.
While hearing a case related to pre-arrest bail, the chief justice said the criminal law did not allow pre-arrest bail. “There is a need to review the rules with regard to pre-arrest bail in criminal cases,” he added.
He recalled that bail before arrest was first granted in the Hidayatullah case in 1949 so that a respectable person might not be not implicated in a case.
“The question is whether the court should protect dignity of a person or not. The Hidayatullah case had surfaced in 1949, adding that pleas for pre-arrest bail are filed in every case,” he said. The chief justice, who headed a bench of the apex court, rejected an appeal seeking to revoke the bail before arrest of a suspect in a robbery case.
The suspect had obtained bail from a high court. Subsequently, the complainant approached the top court seeking cancellation of his bail.
