PESHAWAR, Jan 14: The Peshawar district and sessions judge, Hayat Ali Shah, on Wednesday directed the local police not to mention Qisas and Diyat Ordinance (QDO) in the FIRs as no law by that name exists.

The court had directed that the proper sections of Pakistan Penal Code should be mentioned in the FIRs instead of QDO in offences affecting the human body.

Presently, in cases pertaining to murders and injuries to people, the police mention QDO in column three of the FIR. In the said column the police have to mention the nature of the offence and the section under which the case is registered.

The judge has observed that as the QDO amendments were made in Pakistan Penal Code and as such the QDO itself was not a law. The judge has sent orders to all the concerned police officers including the senior superintendent of police, operational and investigation, SPs, and SHOs of all the police stations.

The Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance VII of 1990, popularly known as the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, was promulgated by the President of Pakistan during the caretaker government of Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi in 1990. Through that ordinance section 299 to 338 of Pakistan Penal Code were amended. The ordinance was promulgated in light of a judgment of the Federal Shariat Court.

The said ordinance was re-promulgated a number of times during successive governments of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, and finally on April 4, 1997, through the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1997, the ordinance became an Act of parliament. This Act now covers all the offences against human body and provides for Qisas (retribution) and Diyat (blood money).

Although the QDO was itself not a law, but after its promulgation the police have been mentioning it in the FIRs instead of writing the relevant sections of PPC. Even after the ordinance was turned into an Act of the parliament five years ago.