Rights of minorities: SHC suspends lower court orders to register FIR against two men

Offence took place in district South, complainant lives in Central and case was lodged in East.


Our Correspondent May 08, 2014
A sessions judge in district East had ordered registration of FIRs under sections 298-B and 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code against two men belonging to the Ahmadi community. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) suspended on Thursday the orders given by a lower court to register cases against two men belonging to a minority group.

A sessions judge in district East had ordered registration of FIRs under sections 298-B and 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code against two men belonging to the Ahmadi community. The high court said these orders were beyond the territorial jurisdictions of the lower court.

The applicants had gone to the SHC against the order passed on November 29, 2012, and claimed that the lower court had no jurisdiction to entertain an application under section 22-A irrespective of the fact that the case is to lodge the FIR. “The so-called alleged offence took place, if at all, in district South and the complainant resides in district Central, whereas he has attempted to lodge a complaint or FIR in district East,” their lawyer pointed out.

The lawyer said that the observation of the trial court that the police are bound to register cases within the jurisdiction where the complainant permanently resides is misconceived in the given facts of the case.

“It is admitted that the complainant does not reside permanently within the jurisdiction of Brigade Police Station in district East nor did the so-called alleged offence took place within the same jurisdiction,” the SHC bench observed. It said that the Supreme Court ruling referred to in the order has been applied incorrectly.

Since the applicant does not live within the jurisdiction of Brigade police station, he has with mala fide intention attempted to get a false case registered against the applicant, the high court bench said. There are instances of misuse of provisions of section 22-A of the Criminal Procedure Code and, therefore, it is the duty of the court that such misuse should be taken care of and such application should not be entertained lightly, the bench added.

The bench also noted that the alleged offence is of a serious nature and may create a law and order situation in the area. “The very fact that the so-called complainant has not taken the trouble of lodging a similar complaint within the jurisdiction of police station where, according to the circumstances, the case should have been registered, shows his mala fides and attempt to misuse provisions of section 22-A CrPC,” said the order.

The assistant prosecutor general also conceded that the sessions judge had no territorial jurisdiction to entertain the complaint since the offence, if any, did not fall within its territorial jurisdiction.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2014. 

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