The Sindh High Court (SHC) has granted bail to a water tanker driver in a road accident killing case.
Mohammad Hanif was arrested by the Gulshan-e-Iqbal police for causing death of Mohammad Haris and injuring Mohammad Ahmed due to his reckless and negligent driving on February 28, 2025.
A counsel for the applicant submitted that he was innocent and had been falsely implicated with ulterior motives. He submitted that the penal sections applied to the FIR were bailable offences, and the section 322 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) was added later, following directions of the judicial magistrate without justification, as the offence did not entail imprisonment.
The counsel said there was no direct evidence connecting the applicant to the offence and submitted that facts as presented created doubt and warranted further inquiry, entitling the applicant to bail.
An assistant prosecutor general supported the trial court order with regard to the rejection of bail submitting that this was a case of gross negligence, resulting in the loss of a precious life.
A single bench of the SHC comprising Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani after hearing the arguments of the counsel observed that it appeared that the case was initially registered for offence under the sections 320/337-G of the PPC, which were bailable offences.
The high court observed that the applicant was produced before the judicial magistrate for remand on these charges but the judicial magistrate while taking cognisance of a notification issued on February 14, 2025, issued by the Karachi commissioner, added the section 322 of the PPC, citing a complete ban on the movement of dumpers carrying construction material and mixture machines in all parts of the city except between 10pm and 6am.
The high court observed that such a notification did not apply to vehicles carrying essential commodities, including water; edible oil; liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen and medical gases categorised as lifesaving drugs; meat; skin; and other related items and admittedly, the vehicle was a water tanker, which was excluded from the ban.
The SHC observed that although it remained to be determined at trial whether the ingredients of the section 322 of the PPC were applicable to the peculiar circumstances of the case. The high court observed that the case had already been challaned, and the applicant was no longer required for investigation.
The bench observed that the applicant’s counsel had made out a case for further inquiry and granted bail against a surety of Rs2 million.