# Is 302 bailable? Bail in a murder case > Noor Agha v. The State, Supreme Court of Pakistan, 2025 SCMR 1679, Criminal Petition No. 27-K of 2025, decided 15 April 2025. - Topic: Criminal law - Court: Supreme Court of Pakistan - Citation: 2025 SCMR 1679 - The myth: "302 is non-bailable, so a murder accused can never get bail." Verdict: Wrong. - Watch: https://failegal.site/media/is-302-bailable-murder-case-bail-2025-scmr-1679 (video https://failegal.site/media/is-302-bailable-murder-case-bail-2025-scmr-1679/reel.mp4, 1:08) - Published by FAI Legal on 2026-10-22 No. Section 302 (qatl-i-amd, murder) is non-bailable, so bail is never automatic. But it is not impossible. Under section 497 of the Criminal Procedure Code, if you have been in jail for more than two years without a break and the trial has not ended, the court shall grant bail, unless an exception applies. In Noor Agha v. The State, 2025 SCMR 1679, the Supreme Court granted that bail to a man held for over two years in a Karachi murder case. The High Court had called him a dangerous criminal because of the charge alone. That, the Court held, is not enough. ## Key points - Non-bailable does not mean no bail. It means bail is not a right at the police station and a court decides it (s.497(1) CrPC). - The delay rule: a charge that can carry death, more than two years in custody without a break, and a trial that has not concluded. Then the court shall release the accused on bail. For other charges the period is one year. For a woman it is one year and six months. - Four things defeat the right: delay caused by the accused or someone acting for him, a previous conviction for an offence punishable with death or life imprisonment, a terrorism charge punishable with death or life imprisonment, or the court's opinion, on material, that he is a hardened, desperate or dangerous criminal. - That opinion needs real material showing a substantial risk of serious harm to society. The gravity of the charge can be one factor, but not the only one (2025 SCMR 1679, paras 8 and 9). ## What "non-bailable" really means for 302 Schedule II of the Criminal Procedure Code lists section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code (dafa 302, qatl-i-amd) as "Not bailable". The punishment is qisas, death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment up to twenty-five years. Section 497 explains what non-bailable means. A court may still release a person accused of a non-bailable offence, but it shall not do so if there are reasonable grounds to believe he is guilty of an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or ten years. Lawyers call this the prohibitory clause. So for a murder charge, bail on the merits is hard. It usually needs a case of further inquiry under section 497(2). That is why the delay rule matters: it is a separate ground that does not depend on the merits (2025 SCMR 1679, para 8). ## The two-year rule in section 497 The third proviso to section 497(1) says the court shall, except where the delay was caused by the accused or someone acting on his behalf, release on bail a person accused of an offence punishable with death who "has been detained for such offence for a continuous period exceeding two years" and whose trial has not concluded. For a woman the period is more than one year. For an offence not punishable with death, the period is more than one year, and more than six months for a woman. The Supreme Court reads "shall" as creating a right (2025 SCMR 1679, para 5). The period runs from the date of detention, not from the date the charge is framed. Adjournments sought by the defence lawyer do not count against the accused unless they show a pattern or design to delay the trial (para 7, summarising Nadeem Samson v. The State, PLD 2022 SC 112). ## When the two-year right does not apply The fourth proviso takes three kinds of accused out of the rule: a previously convicted offender for an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life; a person who, in the opinion of the court, is a hardened, desperate or dangerous criminal; and a person accused of an act of terrorism punishable with death or imprisonment for life. And the third proviso itself gives no right where the delay was caused by an act or omission of the accused or of someone acting on his behalf. ## Karachi, 2022: over two years in jail, no verdict The petitioner was arrested on 10 October 2022 under section 54 CrPC in a case registered at Police Station Sohrab Goth, Karachi, under sections 302, 365 and 34 PPC. He was not named in the FIR. The prosecution said he travelled to the crime scene in a separate vehicle and later pointed out the place where two spent bullets were found (para 2). His bail on the merits was refused. When he applied on the ground of delay, the trial court and the Sindh High Court refused again, the High Court on the sole ground that he was a hardened, desperate or dangerous criminal (para 2). It was not disputed that he had been in custody for more than two years and that the delay was not his doing (para 4). ## What the Supreme Court decided On 15 April 2025 a bench of Athar Minallah, Irfan Saadat Khan and Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan, JJ converted the petition into an appeal, allowed it and granted bail under the third proviso (para 10). The High Court, the Court said, "had formed the opinion merely on the basis of his alleged involvement in the offence punishable with death" (para 9). To treat an accused as hardened, desperate or dangerous, the prosecution must place material showing a substantial risk that he would cause serious harm to society if released. Here there was no criminal record, no history of violence, no threats to witnesses and no other material (paras 4, 8 and 9). The Court also reminded courts not to exclude "the principle that an accused is innocent until proven guilty" (para 8). ## The case at a glance - **Facts:** Arrested on 10 October 2022 in a Karachi case under sections 302, 365 and 34 PPC, not named in the FIR, the petitioner stayed in custody for more than two years without the trial ending. The trial court and the Sindh High Court refused bail on the delay ground, calling him a hardened, desperate or dangerous criminal. - **The question:** Can a court deny bail under the third proviso to section 497(1) by calling the accused a dangerous criminal only because of the offence he is charged with? - **What the Court held:** No. Without material showing a substantial risk of serious harm, the fourth proviso was not attracted and the statutory right could not be withheld. Bail was granted. - **Why:** "Shall" in the third proviso creates a right. The fourth proviso is an exception that needs an opinion based on credible material, not on the nature of the offence alone or on presumptions. The petitioner had no record, no history of violence and no allegation of threats. - **Limits:** The observations are tentative and do not affect the trial (para 11). Bail is not acquittal. The right is lost where the accused caused the delay or one of the fourth proviso exceptions applies. ## In the Court’s words > "The legislature has explicitly used the expression 'shall' in the 3rd proviso and it creates a right in favour of an accused to be released on bail" (2025 SCMR 1679, para 5) > "the opinion cannot be based on mere presumptions, conjectures or subjective basis" (2025 SCMR 1679, para 8) > "the statutory right under the 3rd proviso could not be withheld or denied" (2025 SCMR 1679, para 9) ## The law it relies on - **Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, s.497(1), third and fourth provisos:** The court shall release on bail an accused detained "for a continuous period exceeding two years" (death offences; one year for a woman) or one year (other offences; six months for a woman) whose trial has not concluded, unless the delay was his doing; not for previous convicts of death or life offences, a hardened, desperate or dangerous criminal in the court's opinion, or a terrorism accused. - **Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, Schedule II, PPC s.302 and s.324:** Section 302 (qatl-i-amd): not bailable; qisas, death, imprisonment for life or up to twenty-five years. Section 324 (attempt to qatl-i-amd): not bailable; imprisonment up to ten years and fine. ## What this does not mean - It does not mean bail comes automatically after two years. The court still checks the exceptions, and a delay caused by the accused defeats the claim. - Bail is not acquittal. The trial goes on, and the Supreme Court's observations were tentative and do not affect it (para 11). - It does not stop a court from refusing bail to someone shown, on real material, to be a danger to others. The gravity of the charge can be one factor (para 8). ## Questions people ask ### Is 302 PPC bailable or not? No. Schedule II of the CrPC lists section 302 (qatl-i-amd) as not bailable. A court can still grant bail: on further inquiry under section 497(2), or as a right after more than two years in custody with the trial not concluded, unless an exception applies (2025 SCMR 1679). ### Can you get bail in a murder case in Pakistan? Yes, in some cases. Bail on the merits is hard because murder falls in the prohibitory clause of section 497(1), but the delay rule in the third proviso is a separate ground. In 2025 SCMR 1679 the Supreme Court granted it to a murder accused held for over two years. ### What is dafa 302? Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code is the punishment for qatl-i-amd, intentional killing: qisas, death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment up to twenty-five years where qisas does not apply. ### Is 324 PPC bailable? No, section 324 (attempt to qatl-i-amd) is also not bailable. It is not punishable with death, so the delay rule works on one year in custody, or six months for a woman. In Muhammad Umer Shahzad v. The State, 2023 SCMR 1450, the Supreme Court granted bail on this ground to a 324 accused held for over two years. ### Do the two years start from the arrest or from the charge? From the date of detention in the case, not from the date the charge is framed (2025 SCMR 1679, para 7, following PLD 2022 SC 112). ### Does a woman get bail sooner? Yes. For a charge punishable with death the period is more than one year, and for other charges more than six months. The first proviso to section 497(1) also lets a court release a woman on bail even when the charge falls in the prohibitory clause. ## Sources - Noor Agha v. The State, 2025 SCMR 1679, Supreme Court of Pakistan, 15 April 2025, paras 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. A court cannot withhold statutory bail under the third proviso to s.497(1) by calling the accused a dangerous criminal only because of the charge; bail granted after more than two years in custody. (verified against full text) - Nadeem Samson v. The State, PLD 2022 SC 112, Supreme Court of Pakistan. Principles of statutory bail: the period runs from detention; only a deliberate pattern of delay by the accused counts against him. (summarised in 2025 SCMR 1679 para 7) - Muhammad Umer Shahzad v. The State, 2023 SCMR 1450, Supreme Court of Pakistan, 6 June 2023. Section 324 case: the statutory period was one year; after more than two years in custody with no fault of the accused before the charge, bail was granted. (verified against the reported order) - Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, s.497 and Schedule II (PPC ss.302, 324) (text checked in FAI Statute Search, 22 October 2026) (official text: https://pakistancode.gov.pk/english/UY2FqaJw1-apaUY2Fqa-apaUY2Npa5lp-sg-jjjjjjjjjjjjj) ## What the reel says Is 302 bailable or not? No. But if you have been in jail over two years without a break and the trial has not ended, the court shall grant bail (s.497 CrPC; Noor Agha v. The State, 2025 SCMR 1679). The law: section 497, third proviso. A charge that can carry death: two years (a woman: one year). Any other charge: one year (a woman: six months). The exceptions: you caused the delay, a past conviction for a death or life offence, a terrorism charge, or real material showing you are dangerous. The case: Karachi, 2022. Not even named in the FIR, over two years in jail, no verdict. The High Court refused bail: "a dangerous criminal". Supreme Court (April 2025): the charge alone does not make anyone dangerous. Bail allowed. Remember: bail is not acquittal. The trial goes on. Send this to whoever forwarded you the myth. --- Educational legal information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. Speak to a qualified lawyer about your own matter. Reading this page does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Review status: Pending advocate review. English: https://failegal.site/media/is-302-bailable-murder-case-bail-2025-scmr-1679 · Urdu: https://failegal.site/media/ur/is-302-bailable-murder-case-bail-2025-scmr-1679 FAI Media is part of FAI Legal (https://failegal.site), research on Pakistani statutes and judgments. 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