PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday ordered the police of the provincial capital to quash a human smuggling case registered by them declaring that the police don’t have jurisdiction to deal with the matter.

A bench consisting of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah accepted a petition of Faridullah against the registration of an FIR against him by the Agha Mir Jani Shah Yakatoot police station despite the registration of the case by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

It observed that the petitioner could file a damages suit against the relevant police officials.

The bench wondered how the police could register the FIR when the matters pertaining to human trafficking didn’t fall in their domain.

Declares matter is FIA’s domain, not police’s

Shakeel Khan Ahmadkhel, lawyer for the petitioner, said the local police had registered that FIR in 2020 on the complaint of resident Aziz Khan, who alleged that the petitioner was involved in human smuggling and used to receive money from people on commitment of sending them to Malaysia, South Korea and other countries.

He said the complainant had also accused the petitioner of not sending him abroad despite receiving money.

The lawyer said the police arrested his client before releasing him on bail.

He said an FIR was also registered by the FIA against the petitioner regarding the same matter.

The counsel argued that under the Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants Act, 2018, it was the domain of the FIA to deal with such issues and the local police had no authority to interfere in it.

He argued that the government had so far not authorised the police to deal with those issues.

The lawyer argued that the case of his client was that of double jeopardy, which was prohibited under the Constitution.

He requested the bench to order the quashing of the impugned FIR.

FIA additional director Abdur Rehman Afridi, who was also present in the court, supported the lawyer’s contention and said the police had no powers to register the FIR against the petitioner and therefore, they had overstepped their powers by registering that case.

The bench observed that the police had not been performing their functions and instead, they’re interfering in the jurisdiction of other departments.

It wondered how the police couldn’t know about their jurisdiction.

PLEA DISPOSED OF: The bench disposed of a petition filed by former Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MPA Riaz Khan after the government informed it about a criminal case pending against him in a court of law.

It directed the petitioner to approach the relevant courts within three days to claim relief in the case against him.

The former lawmaker, who hailed from Buner district, had sought the court’s orders for the government to provide him with details of the cases and inquiries pending against him.

Advocate Inam Yousafzai appeared for the petitioner and contended that the government had not been providing information to his client about the cases and inquiries pending against him.

He claimed that the government agencies had been implicating the PTI leaders in politically-motivated fabricated cases.

Additional advocate general Danyal Khan Chamkani informed the bench that currently, there was a single case registered against the petitioner by the anti-corruption establishment, whereas an inquiry in another case against him had been in progress.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2023