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Official Citation: 2026 LHC 1474
Court / Jurisdiction: Lahore High Court (Honorable Mr. Justice Muhammad Waheed Khan)
Parties: MUHAMMAD ARSHAD vs THE STATE ETC.
Ruling Summary: This decision was rendered by the Lahore High Court (Honorable Mr. Justice Muhammad Waheed Khan), officially reported as 2026 LHC 1474. In this matter between MUHAMMAD ARSHAD and THE STATE ETC., the court adjudicated key questions of statutory construction, procedural regularity, and legal precedent under Pakistani law.
Core Holding: The honorable bench evaluated governing statutory provisions and judicial authorities to establish the rights of the parties, delivering the binding reasoning set out below.
COURT: Lahore High Court (Honorable Mr. Justice Muhammad Waheed Khan) DECISION DATE: 25-02-2026 CASE DETAILS: Crl. Misc.-Pre-arrest Bail-Under Section 498 Cr.PC 5480-B-25 ============================================================ Form No.HCJD/C-121 ORDER SHEET IN THE LAHORE HIGH Court BAHAWALPUR BENCH, BAHAWALPUR JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
Cr. Misc. No.5480-B of 2025/BWP
Muhammad Arshad v. The State, etc.
S.No. of Order/ Proceeding Date of order/ proceeding Order with signature of Judge and that of parties or counsel where necessary
25.02.2026 Mr. Ejaz Hussain Mughal, Advocate with petitioner. Mr. Javed Iqbal Bhaaya, Assistant District Public Prosecutor with Fayyaz SP (Investigation), Akmal DSP and Ahmad SI/SHO. Complainant Reh an Alam, Assistant Director Agricultur e (Extension), Bahawalnagar (Assistant Controller Fertilizer). Muhammad Jamil Ghauri, Chief Agriculture Officer/ Director Agriculture (Extension) Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur Division.
Apprehending arrest at the hands of l ocal police, petitioner , Muhammad Arshad , seeks pre-arrest bail in case FIR No.463 dated 08.12.2025, registered under sections 10(1), 36(1)(b) & 39 of the Punjab Fertilizers Control Act, 2025 at Police Station Takhat Mahal, Bahawalnagar. 2. Precisely, cas e of the prosecution as set forth in the First Information Report (FIR) was that on 24.06.2025 at 02:30 p.m., complainant Rehan Alam , Assistant Director Agriculture (Extension), Bahawalnagar (Assistant Controller Fertilizer) alongwith other officials inspected a shop named as ‘ Messrs Al -Noor Spray and Seed Centre ’ situated at Basti Qazian Wali, Bahawalnagar and during checking record of Jacket fertilizer was not found. Sample of said fertilizer was taken in presence of the petitioner and sent for chemical a nalysis wh ich on laboratory report was found adulterated, hence, this case. 3. Pro and contra arguments have been heard. Record perused. 4. At the very outset, it is observed that as per prosecution’s own case, the petitioner is the shop keeper and the sa mple was procured from the sealed bag of fertilizer lying at his shop. During the pendency of this petition, vide order dated 14.01.2026 both i.e. the complainant and
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Investigating Officer of the case were confronted about the involvement of the manufactur er or supplier of the said fertilizer, they remained unable to respond the query, rather admitted that the SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), issued by the competent authority in this regard were not adhered to. On 12.02.2026, Kamran Asghar, District Po lice Officer (DPO), Bahawalnagar alongwith Fayyaz Ahmad SP (Investigation), Muhammad Ahmad SI/ SHO, Muhammad Khan ASI (Investigating Officer of the case) , complainant Rehan Alam, Assistant Director Agriculture (Extension), Bahawalnagar (Assistant Controller Fertilizer) and Muhammad Jamil Ghauri, Chief Agriculture Officer/Director Agriculture (Extension) Bahawalpur Division, Bahawalpur, appeared in the Court, when this Court put certain queries to them qua implementation of different provisions of the Punjab Fertilizer Control Act, 2025 “The Act” and SOPs adopted by the concerned authorities , during the investigation, the DPO and SP (Investigation) have candidly admitted that the same have not been implemented in letter and spirit, however, both s ought some ti me to submit a detailed report in this regard. 5. Today, reports have been submitted by the District Police Officer, Bahawalnagar and Muhammad Jamil Ghauri, Chief Agriculture Officer/Director Agriculture (Extension) Bahawalpur Division, Bahawalpur. On going through the same, it is noticed that in Bahawalpur Division, seven (7) cases were registered under the fertilizer laws, out of which four were registered after promulgation of the Punjab Fertilizers Control Act, 2025 (Act), whereas the remaining three w ere registered before its promulgation under the Punjab Fertilizers (Control) Order, 1973 & the Punjab Essential Articles Control Act, 1973 and noticed that only in three cases, the manufacturers/owners/CEO/MD of the factories were booked as accused but th at too, after taking notice by this Court and originally only the shop keepers were booked, whereas in other four cases, the position is still the same that only the shop keepers were implicated therein and neither the Agriculture Department/complainant of this case nor the Investigating Agency/police, had bothered to inquire
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that who w ere the manufacturers or suppliers of the said fertilizers/pesticides nor any formal inquiry was initiated to trace them out. While seized with similar cases at Principal Sea t of this Court, the Court called upon the Addit ional I.G. Investigation Punjab and the Secretary Agriculture, Punjab and sensitized them about the dismal and lethargic conduct displayed by the Agriculture Department and Investigating Agency/police during the investigation of the cases registered under “The Act ”. A committee was constituted, who vide letter No.DS(A&M)/SA/SP/4-9/2021 dated 02.01.2023 drafted following SOPs;-
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In order to nip the lapses in the bud and to improve the standard of investigation as well as to fix the liability specifically upon the responsible persons regarding the commission of offence, this Court vide order dated 05.01.2023 , passed in Cr. Misc. No.8741 -B of 2022 titled “Maqbool Ahmad v. The State etc.” had issued c ertain directions for
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implementation of the above said SOPs, while scanning and pasting the same in its order, copies of the same were sent to: (i) The Inspector General of Police, Punjab. (ii) The Secretary Agriculture, Punjab, Lahore and (iii) The Prosecutor General, Punjab, Lahore.
for circulation of the same to all the concerned for their guidance and compliance the same. But it is observed with anguish and pain that the situation still remained the same. 6. Thereafter, the legislatures enacted a new law as THE PUNJAB FERTILIZERS CONTROL ACT 2025 (No.XLIII) of 2025, which was passed by the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab on May 21, 2025 and assented to by the Governor of the Punjab on May 29, 2025 and it was published as an Act of the Provincial Assembly of the P unjab on the same day in the Gazette of the Punjab (Extraordinary). Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Act explains the authorities , making of Inspection Committees, Registration Committee and Licensing , which read as under;- Section 3. Controller, Additional Controller, Deputy Controller and Assistant Controller.– (1) The Secretary of the Department shall be the Controller for the purposes of the Act. (2) The Director of Agriculture (Extension) Hqrs, Punjab shall be the Additional Controller (Field) at provincial level for the purposes of the Act. (3) The Chief Scientist, Soil Fertility Research Institute, Punjab, shall be the Additional Controller (Technical) at provincial level for the purposes of the Act. (4) The Director of Agriculture (Extension)/Divis ional Incharge, shall be the Additional Controller at Division level for the purposes of the Act. (5) The Deputy Director Agriculture (Extension)/District Incharge shall be the Deputy Controller at District level for the purposes of the Act. (6) The Assi stant Director Agriculture (Extension)/Tehsil Incharge shall be the Assistant Controller at Tehsil level for the purposes of the Act.
Section 4. Inspection committees.– The Controller may, by an order, in writing, constitute one or more inspection committ ees at provincial level and one inspection committee in each division to carry out the purposes of the Act.
Section 5. Registration Committee.– The Controller may, by an order, in writing, constitute registration committee at provincial level to carry out the purposes of the Act.
Section 6. Licensing.– (1) No person shall manufacture, import, distribute, store, sell and offer for sale any fertilizer without obtaining a license under the Act. (2) An application, on a format as may be prescribed, for grant of license as manufacturer, importer, distributor, after fulfilling such conditions and on payment of such fee, as may be prescribed and complete in all respects, shall be
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submitted to the Additional Controller (Technical) through an online process or by hand. (3) The office of Additional Controller (Technical) shall, after receipt of the application under sub -section (2), process it in the manner as may be prescribed. (4) If the application is found complete in all respects, the Additional Controller (Technical) shall forward the same to the inspection committee for inspection of the unit or site, as the case may be, as provided in the application, in such manner as may be prescribed. (5) The inspection committee, after conducting inspection, shall submit its report along with its recommendations, to the Additional Controller (Technical) within such period as may be prescribed. (6) An applicant aggrieved of the recommendations of the inspection committee may, within seven days of the receipt of such recommendations, file a representation before the Additional Controller (Field) who may, if considers suitable, direct re -inspection of the unit or site, as the case may be, by another inspection committee and the recommendations of such inspection commit tee, after its reinspection, shall be final. (7) On receipt of the report of the inspection committee, the Additional Controller (Technical), shall forward the case to the registration committee for consideration of the case. (8) On the recommendations o f registration committee, the Additional Controller (Technical) shall issue the license in favor of the applicant for a period of three years which may be renewed for another term of three years subject to fulfilling of such terms and conditions and on pay ment of such fee as may be prescribed. (9) In case the license is refused, a representation, within a period of ten days of such refusal, may be filed before the Additional Secretary (Task Force) who shall, after hearing the applicant and perusing the rel evant record, pass a speaking order which shall be final.
Section 18 of the Act establishes track and trace system to monitor fertilizer, which reads as under;- 18. Track and trace a fertilizer. – (1) The Department shall, for ensuring the authenticity and origin of a fertilizer, establish a track and trace system and monitor to ensure compliance: Provided that until the track and trace system is established by the Department, the information shall be shared manually in such manner and form as may be prescribed. (2) A manufacturer, importer, distributor, dealer and sub -dealer shall enter the details of the fertilizer stock in the track and trace system established by the Department and non -compliance thereto shall be treated as violation of the provisions of the Act.
Then under section 42 of the Act, the Government had to make the rules for carrying out the purpose of the Act by notifying the same in the official Gazette but unfortunately, these rules have not been framed till today. So, on account of non -framing of these rules, the Inspection and Registration Committees to be constituted under the above provisions of law, have not been established so far. 7. I am mindful of the fact that when an Inspector of the Agriculture Department procure s a sample fro m the sealed bag lying at a shop or outlet, which later on turns out to be spurious/adulterated/sub-standard, it
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does not mean that the said fertilizer/pesticide was found fake to the extent of quantity in the said bag(s) kept in the shop or store, rather it is obvious that the same represents the bulk, which ha ve been prepared by the manufacturers in the factory but despite repeatedly showing concerns by this Court, till date the relevant authorities have not established any mechanism to seal the stock lying in godowns or in the manufacturing units nor , any method is developed to retrieve the bags of such fertilizer/pesticide, which have already been delivered in the market. I have repeatedly asked the District Police Officer, Bahawalnagar and Muhammad Jami l Ghauri, Chief Agriculture Officer/Director Agriculture (Extension) Bahawalpur Division, Bahawalpur, whether the above said SOPs have been complied with in all those seven cases registered in year 2025 mentioned in their reports, they have candidly admitted that neither any search warrant of the manufacturing unit/factory has been procured from the concerned Area Magistrate nor the stock was sealed or retrieved the spurious fertilizer , which had already been delivered in the market. I n almost all the cases only the shop keepers have been implicated without realizing the fact that they could be potential/star witnesses of the cases as they are the persons, who could lead the Investigating Agency to the suppliers or the manufacturers of the fake fertilizers/pesticides. 8. While dealing with different cases registered under the Punjab Food Authority Act, 2011 , by the Punjab Food Department , it has been noticed that only the shop keepers or the drivers o f the vehicles/tankers were booked and Investigating Agency has never bother to trace the suppliers or manufacturers of substandard or misbranded, unsafe food, adulterated and expired food including milk , which has been declared unwholesome and not fit for human consumption. Similar is the position in the cases re gistered under the Drug Act, 1976 , against the owners as well as workers of medical stores/pharmacies, on the allegation of having spurious, misbranded, unregistered, expired and substandard medicines and when the Drug Inspectors and the Investigating Agen cy are confronted about the tracing out the units/factories, wherein the said
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medicines were prepared, manufactured or the suppliers of the same , the Court faces the same situation, wherein they had not fixed the liability against the persons, who are actu ally responsible regarding the commission of offence. S imilar situation has been observed on multiple occasions while adjudicating upon the c ases regarding trafficking of narcotics drugs registered under the Control of Narcotics Substances Act, 1997, wherein focus should have been on dismantling enablers and not just street level actors like car riers and drug paddlers . It is often observed during adjudication of those cases that the concerned department and the Investigating Agencies had turned a blind eye to the issue and they feel quite satisfied to book and arrest street level persons instead of mastermind/principal offenders. 9. It is also n oteworthy that according to clause 3 of above referred SOPs (bearing No.245/Inv/HA/L dated 07.01.2026), the SP (Investigation) of the concerned District was to be appointed as focal person in each District of the Punjab, who was supposed to get the daily diary regarding the cases registered under the Act and also to hold meetings with the Assistant Director/Deputy Director Agriculture of the District in order to discuss the arrest of the accused involved in the crime and to further proceed in the investigat ion but unfortunately, the SP(s) (Investigation) have not been formally notified as focal persons so far, as apprised by the learned Law Officer. 10. So, in the light of supra discussion/concerns, the Inspector General of Police Punjab and the Secretary Agriculture Punjab are directed to hold the meetings with the quarters concerned and attend the concerns shown by the Court, and also adhere to the mechanism provided under the Act and afore referred SOPs, already drafted by the concerned authorities, strictly in accordance with law. 11. Now coming to the facts of the instant case, it is straightway apprised to the Court that since the Investigating Agency has not decided the fate of the petitioner whether he would be arrayed as an accused or would be one of the prosecution witnesses in this case, so in that eventuality, the police is not intending to arrest him in this c ase and his
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arrest is held in abeyance. On this, learned counsel for the petitioner does not press this petition on merits, which is disposed of as such. 12. The Senior Additional Registrar of this Bench is directed to transmit copy of this order to;- (i) Inspector General of Police Punjab, Lahore. (ii) Additional Inspector General (Investigation) Police Punjab, Lahore. (iii) The Secretary Agriculture Punjab, Lahore. (iv) The Advocate General Punjab and, (v) The Prosecutor General Punjab.
for information, guidelines and compliance.
(MUHAMMAD WAHEED KHAN) JUDGE Sajid
APPROVED FOR REPORTING
JUDGE