Lahore:
The High Court of Lahore (LHC) ruled that if a person commits an offense in a foreign country, which is also an offense under the Pakistan Criminal Code (PPC), it can be tried and condemned in Pakistan as if the crime had occurred in the country.
Judge Tanveer Ahmad Sheikh of the LHC, in an order made a few days ago, rejected the objection of the accused of the lawyer that a crime report had already been recorded in Oman, a second report on crime in Pakistan was unacceptable.
The judge ruled that an individual who commits a crime abroad can still be prosecuted in Pakistan.
Subsequently, the court withdrew the surety before the arrest of the AD-interim granted to the petitioner and rejected his surety advocacy.
The court also observed that, as the case against the petitioner was still at an early stage of the investigation in Oman, he could not request protection under article 403 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC).
The court confirmed the legality of the investigation, the investigation, the arrest and the trial in Pakistan, rejecting the objection of the Petitioner’s Council as without foundation.
The case includes the petitioner Muhammad Irshad, who asked for a pre-stopping bail under a FIR recorded on January 3, 2023, under articles 406 and 408 of the PPC to the Federal Investigation Circle, Gujranwala.
According to the FIR, an investigation by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Gujranwala was launched after the transmission of a complaint by the Pakistan Embassy to Oman.
The complainant, Zulfiqar Ahmad, son of Ehsan Ellahi, said that he has run a jewelry company in Muscat since 1992 under the name of the company “Anwer Jewelry LLC”.
The accused, Muhammad Irshad, son of Muhammad Latif, has been employed as a driver in his business in the past four years.
On June 16, 2022, the complainant entrusted Irshad 26,300 Omanais riyals to collect Mutrah gold, as well as a diamond ring worth 600 omani riyals and a bank card with a balance of 923 omani riyals.
Instead of completing the transaction, Irshad would have transferred the diverted amount of RS1,793 504 of Muscat to two Pakistani bank accounts – a belonging to his wife, Shamim Akher, and another in his name.
The next day, on June 17, 2022, Irshad arrived in Pakistan from Muscat on the flight PK-288. He then deposited 1,500,000 rupees of diverted funds on his own bank account. The FIA investigation found him involved in alleged crime.
The petitioner’s lawyer argued thatirshad was innocent and had been falsely involved by the complainant for ulterior motives.
He also argued that the FIR had been recorded after an unreasonable period without justification, a crime report had already been submitted to Oman, making a second report in Pakistan an example of double danger and making the FIR responsible for the cancellation.
He said the FIA faithfully frozen the petitioner’s bank account, no official allocation had been made to IRSHAD and that the accusations did not meet the legal criteria of alleged offenses.
He also argued that the petitioner, being a citizen respectful of the laws, risked induced damage if he was arrested.
However, the court judged that the evidence registered clearly involved the petitioner. He noted that after having committed a diversion to Oman, he immediately transferred funds to bank accounts in Pakistan, including his wife’s account.
The court noted thatirshad, as an employee, had been charged with money, a diamond ring and a bank card, which he diverted for personal use, constituting a violation of confidence under article 405 of the PPC.
The documentary evidence collected during the investigation firmly linked him to the alleged crime, and he did not refute his involvement.
The court found no indication of a malicious intention on the part of the complainant to imply it falsely.
Given these circumstances, the LHC held an extraordinary compensation, reserved for innocent people, could not be granted to the petitioner.
