LAHORE: The Lahore High Court dismissed on Tuesday petitions of four federal ministers against a sessions court’s order directing Lahore police to register a murder case on an application of the Minhajul Quran Secretariat against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and 19 other people, including federal and provincial ministers and government personnel.

In a short order, Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa observed that the petitioners had failed to establish their case. However, the judge ruled that registration of an FIR did not envisage straightaway arrest of the suspect(s).

Minister for Information Pervez Rasheed, Minister for Defence Khwaja Mohammad Asif, Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafiq and Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali had filed the petitions.

Justice Bajwa also rejected the petitioners’ plea for constitution of a larger bench to decide the matter. The judge observed that hearing suspects was not necessary by ex-officio Justice of Peace (sessions court) prior to issuing an order while deciding a petition under Section 22-A(6) of the Act V of 1898.

The judge rules that registration of an FIR does not envisage straightaway arrest of the suspects

He observed that the “purpose and object of recording FIR is to set the criminal law in motion and to obtain first-hand information of occurrence in order to exclude possibility of fabrication of story or consultation or deliberation and to safeguard the accused of such like happenings”.

Therefore, the judge said, the registration of an FIR against petitioners shall not prove their guilt till a decision by a court of competent jurisdiction. “It cannot be used as a substantive piece of evidence against any accused unless proved in accordance with law,” he added.

The judge ruled that an inquiry to determine correctness or otherwise of allegations was not required to be made prior to registration of FIR. And it was the job of investigating officer to collect evidence in order to reach conclusion regarding veracity or falsity of allegations referred to in the crime report, he ruled.

Justice Bajwa observed that the arrest of a suspect was not necessary during the course of investigation and the general impression in this regard was misconceived because a person named in an FIR was not to be arrested straightaway upon registration of the case or as a matter of course unless there was sufficient incriminating evidence regarding culpability of the accused.

“The arrest of accused is to be deferred till the availability of incriminating evidence in order to satisfy the investigation officer regarding correctness of allegations levelled by the complainant against person named in the crime report,” the judge concluded.

During the course of hearing, Minhajul Quran’s counsel Mansoorur Rehman Afridi said that police had deliberately ignored substantial evidence and statements of eyewitnesses and lodged a one-sided FIR on the complaint of a police official. He said the FIR registered by police had no value in the law.

He said a bench of the Sindh High Court had ordered a third FIR in the same case.

The head of the joint investigation team, Additional IG Arif Mushtaq, submitted a report to the judge in his chamber.

Petitioners’ counsel Azam Nazir Tarar argued that Minhajul Quran and Pakistan Awami Tehreek leaders, including Dr Tahirul Qadri, had expressed lack of trust in police and avoided joining the investigation into the incident. He said nobody turned up on behalf of Minhajul Quran or PAT despite several invitations by police and the joint investigation team.

He said the petition filed by Minhajul Quran before the sessions court was politically motivated. He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and others named as suspects in the application had no link with the incident.

Advocate Tarar also argued that an ordinance whereby sub-section 6 was added to section 22-A and 22-B of the Criminal Procedure Code had lapsed and the sessions court no longer enjoyed the power to order the lodging of an FIR.

The Advocate General, Punjab, Hanif Khatana, said the sessions court passed the impugned order without viewing reports of the joint investigation team and police. He said the petition filed by the Minhajul Quran Secretariat was politically motivated and based on misconception.

But the judge dismissed the petitions.

Justice Bajwa dismissed another petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Zubair Niazi demanding implementation of the sessions court’s order. The judge observed that the petitioner was not the aggrieved party in the case.

An additional district and sessions judge had on Aug 16 ordered the Faisal Town SHO to lodge an FIR over the Model Town incident against 21 suspects named in the application of Minhajul Quran.

The suspects include Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, former provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah, chief minister’s former principal secretary Dr Tauqir Shah, Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq, Minister of State Abid Sher Ali, Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali, Information Minister Pervez Rasheed, PML-N MNA Hamza Shahbaz, former DIG operations Rana Abdul Jabbar and former CCPO Shafiq Gujjar.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2014