PESHAWAR, Nov 3: The district and sessions judge, Hayat Ali Shah, on Wednesday ruled that any citizen could file complaints with magistrates against shopkeepers, green grocers and fruit vendors for overcharging.

The court ordered the Peshawar district coordination officer and food department to submit comments within a week in response to a complaint by a citizen, Attiqur Rehman, regarding overcharging by shopkeepers, and fruit and vegetable sellers.

The complainant sought action against those overcharging the public.

The judge directed the district government to provide price lists of daily-use commodities to magistrates and the district and sessions judge. He asked all the SHOs in Peshawar to provide details of such cases to the court daily.

Appearing for the complainant, advocate Hameedullah Bangash said it was the right of citizens to question overcharging and the price-hike.

The court observed that a citizen should file a private complaint with the concerned magistrate against any shopkeeper, if he felt that he had been charged for higher prices.

The magistrate should entertain such complaint and dispose it of on merit, the court said.

The complainant informed the court that almost all the shopkeepers and vendors had arbitrarily raised prices and the concerned officials had not been checking this illegality.

He said the life of ordinary citizens had become miserable due to price-hike and over-charging.