LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has ruled that dishonouring of a cheque given as a guarantee for the performance of an illegal custom of Vani, giving hand of a woman in marriage as a compensation of a crime, cannot lead to criminal prosecution.

Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh issued the ruling setting aside an order of an ex-officio justice of peace (sessions court) for registration of a case against a petitioner on charge of issuing a cheque dishonoured by the bank concerned.

Bhowana police arrested one Nawaz for killing a man namely Faraz. While the suspect was in jail his family approached the village elders to help broker a compromise with the deceased’s legal heirs.

The elders convened a Panchayat which decided that Nawaz would give the hand of his daughter in marriage to the victim party and petitioner Gul Sher, brother of the suspect, gave them a cheque of Rs1 million as a pledge of executing the Vani agreement.

Later, Nawaz refused to marry his daughter as per settlement and the cheque in-question also bounced.

The brother of the deceased filed an application under section 22-A Cr PC before the ex-officio justice of peace, Bhowana, contending that the petitioner was liable to be prosecuted for an offence under section 489-F of PPC (dishonestly issuing a cheque) and sought a direction for police to register an FIR against him as it was a cognizable offence. The judge accepted that application and ordered the police for the FIR, which was assailed before the LHC.

Allowing the petition against the lower court order, Justice Sheikh observes that a bare perusal of the application of the deceased’s brother under section 22-A Cr PC shows that the compromise between the parties was brokered by a Panchayat.

He notes that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has already held that the Jirga or Panchayat must operate within the law and it cannot make any decision which is arbitrary, unjust, illegal or contrary to the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

The judge observes that the Panchayat, in fact, enforced the custom of vani which is not only unIslamic but also illegal.

“Hence, the so-called compromise was void ab initio,” he maintains.

The judge states that the cheque in-question was also void under section 24 of the Contract Act, 1872, because the consideration was unlawful and against public policy.

He says the heirs of the deceased can neither sue the petitioner on the basis of the dishonoured cheque nor invoke section 489-F of PPC for a criminal prosecution.

Justice Sheikh observes that the ex-officio justice of peace passed the impugned order in a slipshod manner without considering the facts of the case properly.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2022