KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Friday granted bail to an underage car driver in a case pertaining to the death of a couple in a traffic accident on Sharea Faisal.

Muhammad Aneeg Imam had filed a post-arrest bail application through his counsel before Additional District and Sessions Judge (East) Manzoor Ali Khamisani.

After hearing the counsel and the prosecutor,the courtgrantedbailtothe suspect against a surety bond of Rs100,000 along with personal bond as the complainant filed `no objection only to bail application`.

In its release order, the court directed the superintendent of the central prison to release the suspect if he is not required in any other case.

During the arguments, defence counsel Mehboob Aziz Buriro told Dawn, he contendedbefore the courtthatthe suspect was a juvenile as his age was between 16 and 17 years, and the legal precedent was that underage suspectswere granted bail.

He added that Section 322 (punishment for gatl-bis-sabab) has been invoked in the case, which does not carry any imprisonment except for the payment of diyat (blood money) while Section 320 (punishment for qatl-i-khara by rash or negligent driving) is a bailable offence.

The sections included in the FIR do not fall under the ambit of the prohibitory clause. He argued that the incident was not intentional, rather, it was a sudden accident.

Suspect Aneeg Imam has been booked and arrested for killing motorcyclist Ayaz and his wife, Aqsa, in a traffic accident on March 26 on Sharea Faisal when his car hit the parked motorcycle causing severe injuries to the couple who later on died during treatment at a hospital.

A case was registered at Sharea Faisal police station under Sections 322 (punishment for qatl-bis-sabab), 320 (punishment for gatl-i-khara by rash or negligent driving) and 114 (Abettor present when offence is committed) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of victims` relative Naseem Ahmed Ansari.