INTIZAR HUSSAIN vs AMJAD HUSSAIN Ss — 2023 PCrLJ 596 ISLAMABAD

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INTIZAR HUSSAIN VS AMJAD HUSSAIN Ss. 353 & 540-a---Exemption from personal appearance---Scope---application of the accused under S. 540-a, Cr.P.C., for exemption from personal appearance was dismissed by the Trial Court---Validity---Word incapability in S. 540-a, Cr.P.C., ought not be confined to physical incapability alone; for instance, absence due to employment abroad was one of the grounds which qualified as incapability to remain before the court---Presence of the accused first and foremost was for his own benefit so that he might observe all the evidence being led against him and defend himself accordingly and also for the convenience of the court which might observe his demeanour or put such questions as it might consider necessary---In the present case, nothing had been shown as to how the complainant side would be prejudiced if the accused were not present before the Trial Court during the trial---accused had already given an undertaking through their counsel that the counsel would be present on each and every date, and in the presence of such an undertaking, it would no longer be open to the accused to claim their absence as causing any prejudice in the conduct of their trial---Trial Court's observations that the petitioners were in the same village/vicinity as the complainants was not entirely persuasive, that it was common in rural areas for extended families to live in close proximity to each other, and within the same village a family might have several houses in close proximity which could act as a deterrent against the opposite party mounting an attack within the village---Vulnerability of the accused was somewhat enhanced when they come to courts without their clan accompanying them---Murders within the court premises by parties attending trial were not an uncommon occurrence---Section 353, Cr.P.C., requiring the presence of the accused before the Trial Court during the trial acknowledged the exception of dispensation with the personal attendance of the accused---Under the peculiar circumstances of the present case, namely, the two FIRs under inter alia S. 324, P.P.C., the medical report of injury of one of the accused, and the undertaking of the counsel that he would be present on each and every date and therefore waiving any later plea of prejudice due to their absence, High Court allowed the revision exempting the accused from personal appearance---Petition was allowed, in circumstances.

INTIZAR HUSSAIN vs AMJAD HUSSAIN Ss — 2023 PCrLJ 596 ISLAMABAD

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