Pakistan

Bounced cheque case: Cops get reprieve

“The DSP had completed the investigation before issuance of restraining order by the IHC,” says petitioners' counsel.

Obaid Abbasi January 08, 2013

the dsp had completed the investigation before issuance of restraining order by the ihc says petitioners 039 counsel photo ihc gov pk file

“The DSP had completed the investigation before issuance of restraining order by the IHC,” says petitioners' counsel. PHOTO: IHC.GOV.PK/ FILE

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday suspended an order passed by an Additional District and Sessions judge to register a First Information Report (FIR) against two senior police officials for defying court orders.

IHC Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman suspended the trial court order, under which an FIR was to be registered against Islamabad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Farooq Yasin and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rashid Niazi.

On January 4, Additional District and Sessions Judge Raja Khuram passed the order in response to an application filed by Rana Saeedullah, who sought action against the police officials for transferring a bounced cheque case despite restraining orders from the IHC.

According to Saeedullah’s application, he had sold 100 kanals of land near Bhara Kahu to Raheel Khan in 2010 for over Rs90 million. However after making some payments, Khan gave a Rs70million cheque which bounced, after which the police registered a case against Khan. Advocate Rizwan Abbasi, counsel for Saeedullah, alleged that SSP was favouring Raheel Khan by transferring the case to the DSP despite the fact that the IHC had restrained him on December 14, 2012.

During the course of Monday’s hearing, Advocate Niazullah Niazi, counsel for the petitioners, argued before the court that his clients had not violated any court order. He maintained that his clients had received the restraining order after completing the inquiry into the case. He informed the court that investigation was handed over to DSP Niazi on December 10 — before the restraining order was issued.

“The DSP had completed the investigation before issuance of restraining order by the IHC,” he added.

After his arguments, the court issued notices to the Kohsar police station house officer and the complainant, Rana Saeedullah, and sought their replies by January 18.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2013.