LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has ruled if a person commits an offence in a foreign country, which is also an offence under the Pakistan Penal Code, he may be tried or convicted in Pakistan as if the crime had been committed within the country.

The ruling was issued on a bail petition filed by a man accused of embezzling money from his employer in Oman before hastily returning to Pakistan.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Gujranwala circle registered a case after the Embassy of Pakistan in Oman referred a complaint. The complainant, Zulfiqar Ahmad, alleged that he ran a jewellery business in Muscat, where the petitioner, Muhammad Irshad, was employed as a driver.

According to the complaint, on June 16, 2022, the complainant handed over 26,300 Omani Riyals to the accused for the purpose of collecting gold from Mutrah. However, instead of completing the task, the accused transferred the money to Pakistan through two bank accounts - one belonging to his wife and the other to himself - before fleeing the country.

LHC rules crimes committed abroad can be prosecuted in Pakistan if PPC applies

During the inquiry, the accused was found to be involved in the alleged offence.

A counsel for the petitioner argued that his client was innocent and had been falsely implicated by the complainant for ulterior motives. He further contended that there was an inordinate delay in the registration of the FIR and that a crime report had already been lodged in Oman regarding the incident. Therefore, he claimed, registering another case for the same offence in Pakistan amounted to double jeopardy, which is not permissible under the law.

Conversely, a deputy prosecutor general stated that the petitioner was prima facie connected with the crime on the strength of the material collected by the investigating officer. He said the petitioner was not entitled to extra ordinary relief of bail, which was available only for innocent people.

In his ruling, Justice Tanvir Ahmad Sheikh observed that the petitioner had only been named in a crime report in Oman and had neither been tried, convicted, nor acquitted of the charge there.

The judge noted that the petitioner fled Oman and was arrested upon his return to Pakistan. Since the investigation in Oman was still at an initial stage, the petitioner could not claim protection under double jeopardy.

Justice Sheikh ruled that the inquiry, investigation, arrest, and trial of the petitioner in Pakistan were legal and valid, and therefore, the objection raised by the petitioner’s counsel was without merit.

Dismissing the bail petition, the judge further directed the FIA to investigate the offence of money laundering, as the petitioner had knowingly transferred the embezzled funds from Oman to Pakistan into his and his wife’s bank accounts, fully aware that the money was the proceeds of a crime.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2025