ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC), Tuesday, accepted former federal minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed’s petition seeking quashment of cases registered in different provinces for using immoral and inappropriate language against Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

A single bench of Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri announced the verdict which he had earlier reserved in the petition of Sheikh Rasheed and declared that “multiple FIRs (more than one FIR) cannot be lodged for the same occurrence in different provinces.”

Justice Jahangiri said in his written judgment that the instant writ petition is allowed and the acts of the police officials in respect of the registration of the impugned FIR are without lawful authority and of no legal effect. He added that the FIR No40/2023, dated 02.02.2023, offences under sections 506, 504, 500 and 153 of PPC, registered at police station Mochko, Keamari, Karachi, is to be treated as abuse of process of law and the same is hereby quashed.

The order noted; “The allegations as mentioned in the impugned FIR III do not attract any cognizable offence. Moreover, when the whole allegations pertaining to the petitioner are considered in juxtaposition with the locus of occurrence i.e. Islamabad, it becomes evident that the police in Karachi had neither any substance nor the jurisdiction to register the FIR III.”

“The place of purported reaction of some persons to an offence allegedly committed in another province and the abode of complainant/informant do not confer jurisdiction on the officials of a police station of another province to register an FIR against an accused. Similarly, multiple FIRs (more than one FIR) cannot be lodged for the same occurrence in different provinces, in light of the Mst. Sughran Bibi case (Supra), thus, the second FIR i.e. Lasbella FIR, was illegally registered on the basis of same allegations for which the FIR III already registered at P.S Mochko, Keamari Karachi,” added the bench.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024