LAHORE:
The Superior Court of Lahore (LHC) has ruled that if a person commits a crime in a foreign country, which is also a crime under the Pakistan Criminal Code (PPC), it can be tried and convicted in Pakistan as if the crime had occurred within the country.
The Tanveer Ahmad Sheikh Judge of the LHC, in an order issued a few days ago, dismissed the objection of the defendant’s lawyer that since a crime report had already been registered in Oman, a second crime report in Pakistan was inminable.
The judge ruled that an individual who commits a crime abroad can still be prosecuted in Pakistan.
Subsequently, the court withdrew the bail prior to Ad-Interim arrest granted the petitioner and dismissed his bail statement.
The court also observed that, since the case against the petitioner was still at an early stage of investigation in Oman, he could not seek protection under section 403 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC).
The Court confirmed the legality of investigation, investigation, arrest and trial in Pakistan, rejecting the objection of the petitioner’s lawyer as unfounded.
The case involves the petitioner Muhammad Irshad, who sought the bail prior to the arrest in relation to a signed registered on January 3, 2023, under sections 406 and 408 of the PPC in the Federal Circle of Research, Gujranwala.
According to the FIR, an investigation was initiated by the Federal Research Agency (FIA) in Gujranwala after the Pakistan embassy sent a complaint in Oman.
The plaintiff, Zulfiqar Ahmad, son of Ehsan she, declared that he had been directing a jewelry business in Muscat since 1992 under the name of the company “Anwer Jewelry LLC”.
The defendant, Muhammad Irshad, son of Muhammad Latif, was used as a driver in his company during the last four years.
On June 16, 2022, the plaintiff entrusted Irshad with 26,300 Omani Riyals to collect gold from Mutrah, along with a diamond ring worth 600 Riyals Omanís and a bank card with a balance of 923 Omar Riyals.
Instead of completing the transaction, Irshad supposedly transferred the embezzlement amount of RS1,793,504 from Muscat to two Pakistani bank accounts, one belonging to his wife, Shamim Akher, and another to his own name.
The next day, on June 17, 2022, Irshad arrived in Pakistan from Muscat on flight PK-288. Later deposited RS1,500,000 of the embezzled funds on their own bank account. The FIA investigation found him involved in the alleged crime.
The petitioner’s lawyer argued that Irshad was innocent and had been falsely involved by the plaintiff of the hidden reasons.
He also said that the FIR was registered after an unreasonable delay without justification, a crime report had already been submitted in Oman, making a second report in Pakistan a double danger instance and making the FIR be responsible for annulling.
He declared that the FIA illegally frozen the petitioner’s bank account, no official conflict had been made to Irshad, and the charges did not comply with the legal criteria for the alleged crimes.
He also argued that the petitioner, being a citizen respectful of the law, was at risk of improper damage if arrested.
However, the Court ruled that the evidence registered clearly involved the petitioner. He pointed out that after committing embezzlement in Oman, he immediately transferred funds to bank accounts in Pakistan, including his wife’s account.
The court pointed out that Irshad, as an employee, was entrusted with an cash, a diamond ring and a bank card, which appropriated badly for personal use, constituting a violation of trust under section 405 of the PPC.
The documentary evidence collected during the investigation firmly connected with the alleged crime, and failed to refute his participation.
The Court did not find indications of malicious intention by the plaintiff to falsely imply it.
Given these circumstances, the LHC ruled that extraordinary relief, reserved for innocent individuals, the petitioner could not be granted.
