Abolish bail in all cases
Muhammad Abd al-Hameed محمد عبد الحمید
Dr Farogh Nasim Sahib
Minister of Law and Justice
Government of Pakistan, Islamabad
Abolish bail in all cases
Dear Dr Farogh Nasim Sahib,
Bail is a crude and ineffective way to ensure the presence of an accused. It gives great humiliation to the innocent. The police run here and there to arrest an accused mentioned in the FIR and produce before a court for remand or bail. If no arrest is made, the case cannot proceed.
The bail amount is seldom high enough to ensure that the accused will not run away. He can jump bail if he wants to, especially if the amount of bail is not too much for him. And the case remains in limbo until the accused is present before the court.
A law may require an accused to cooperate fully with the police during the investigation and also remain present regularly in court during the hearings.
As soon as an FIR is registered, the police may ask a court to order the placement on ECL the names of all accused. The police will ask the accused to join the investigation, sending notice to all known addresses of the accused as well as his close relatives. A notice may also be placed on the central police website for wanted accused. The police may complete and submit its challan despite the absence of one or more accused and submit it to the court.
Before the hearing of a case starts, the court may again order the accused to be present and submit his defense, sending warrants to his known addresses and all close persons. If the accused still does not appear, the court may give its judgment and convict the absconding accused. There should be no appeal against this judgment.
The accused will have all the reasons to appear before the court if he believes that he is not guilty. Even if guilty, the accused will prefer to join the investigation and appear in the court to defend himself. The alternative is certain conviction and no appeal.
السلام علیکم و رحمۃ اللہ و برکاتہ!
