PESHAWAR, June 9: Accepting a writ petition of three employees of Kohat town committee, the Peshawar High Court has ruled that no person can be tried twice for the same offence.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Khalida Rachied and Justice Qazi Ahsanullah Qureshi observed: “Article 13 of the Constitution of Pakistan provides that no person shall be prosecuted or punished for the same offence more than once. This article enshrines fundamental right against double jeopardy to any person.”

In its detailed judgment, the bench stated that double trial was a negation of the legal maxim “no one ought to be punished twice if it be proved to the court that it be for one and the same cause.”

The three petitioners — Muhammad Hanif, a sanitary inspector, Imran Farooq, an establishment clerk, and Muhammad Shoaib, account assistant — were first tried by an ordinary court on charges of corruption and were acquitted.

Later on, they had to face another trial before a special judge anti-corruption for the same offence on the basis of an FIR registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.

The petitioners had prayed the high court to quash the second FIR registered against them and declare the second trial illegal and against the law.

Advocate Nusrat Yasmeen represented the petitioners and contended that once they were acquitted by a proper court they could not be tried again on same facts. She referred to Article 13 of the Constitution, stating that double trial for same offences was not permissible.

She stated that the registration of the two FIRs against the petitioners would amount to vexing them twice on the same allegations, which was not only violative of Article 13, but also exhibited the mala fide on the part of the prosecution to harass and humiliate the petitioners.

Additional advocate-general, Imtiaz Ali, represented the government and contended that the special anti-corruption court was the proper forum for trying the petitioners.

The bench observed that it was well-settled that second prosecution for the same offence was barred only where prosecution had finally concluded and ended either in acquittal or conviction.

The bench stated that the petitioners were tried and acquitted and now they were again being tried for the same allegations as set up in the earlier FIR.

“The petitioners once acquitted by a court of competent jurisdiction and such findings having attained finality, their trial on the same facts again is not permissible under the law,” the bench observed.