ACE concedes jurisdictional limits

Says dispute over property inheritance and civil litigation did not warrant criminal proceedings

LAHORE:

The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has acknowledged before the Lahore High Court (LHC) that a dispute over property inheritance and civil litigation did not warrant criminal proceedings by the department, recommending the quashing of an FIR registered over a decades-old dispute after finding no evidence against government officials.

Justice Sardar Ali Akbar Dogar disposed of a constitutional petition filed by Shahid Mahmood in light of a four-page report submitted by an ACE regional director, which described the matter as civil in nature and confirmed that litigation over it was pending before a civil court in Sheikhupura.

During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel, Mian Dawood advocate, argued that the department had registered an FIR over a 76-year-old inheritance dispute that had already been settled by the courts.

He contended that the petitioner's forefathers had won the case before the Supreme Court, but the opponents had initiated fresh proceedings before revenue authorities over a mutation. After losing before the revenue department, they had got an anti-corruption FIR registered, the lawyer alleged.

The counsel argued that the agencies had no authority to initiate criminal proceedings over inheritance, civil or revenue disputes in the absence of a legally sustainable criminal offence.

In its report submitted before the high court, the anti-corruption regional director stated that the matter was civil and that no evidence had been found against the officials concerned.

The department recommended that the FIR under challenge be quashed.

After considering the report, the LHC disposed of the petition.

Acquittal

The LHC acquitted a man sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case, ruling that an unexplained three-day delay in registering the FIR, contradictions between the complainant's and eyewitnesses' statements, and lapses in preserving evidence had rendered the prosecution's case doubtful.

Justice Farooq Haider allowed the appeal filed by Sufian alias Jaga, set aside the trial court's judgment and ordered his release, according to the written decision.

The court observed that the prosecution had failed to provide a convincing explanation for the delay in registering the case. The incident had taken place on May 13, 2020, but the FIR had been registered at the Sialkot police station on May 16. A man injured in the incident, Rahman Ali, had died on May 19, 2020.

The judgment further noted contradictions between the statements of the complainant and the witnesses regarding the occurrence, raising doubts about the credibility of the prosecution's account.