IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN
(Appellate Jurisdiction)
PRESENT:
Mr. Justice Mushir Alam
Mr. Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed
Civil Petition No.69-Q of 2015
(Against the judgment dated 04.02.2015 passed by the High Court of
Balochistan in C.P. No.631/2014)
Jamal Khan
…Petitioner(s)
Versus
Secretary Home Department
…Respondent(s)
For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Abdus Saleem Ansari, ASC
Mr. Manzoor Ahmed Rehmani, ASC
For the Respondent(s): N.R.
Date of hearing: 09.09.2020.
ORDER
Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, J.- Jamal Khan, petitioner,
is in contest over a piece of land with rival claimants; they relied upon
an arbitration agreement, purportedly executed way back on 2.2.2000;
according to him, the instrument is fake as he never thumb marked
any such agreement and, thus, the respondents were liable to be
prosecuted for forgery and fraud. After his failure with the local police,
the petitioner approached a Justice of Peace albeit with no better fate;
a learned Division Bench of the High Court of Balochistan declined to
issue a direction for registration a criminal case on the ground that
prima facie the dispute inter se the parties was of civil nature as both
sides were asserting their divergent claims on a common land.
Inordinate delay and availability of alternate remedies were other
considerations that weighed with the High Court.
2. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that
accusation disclosed commission of a cognizable offence and as such a
statutory duty was cast upon the Station House Officer to register a
Civil Petition No.69-Q of 2015 2
formal First Information Report so as to investigate the same and his
failure was amenable to interference.
3. Heard.
4. Be that as it may, at the center of controversy is a thumb
impression on an arbitration agreement being attributed to the
petitioner, however, repudiated by him as forge. Report submitted by
the police does not support petitioner’s claim and there is consensus
that both sides are locked in a dispute of civil nature. Against the
above peculiar backdrop, refusal by the Justice of Peace to issue
direction to the Station House Officer and non-interference by the High
Court therewith do not suffer from any jurisdictional error or flaw
calling for intervention by this Court. Petition fails. Leave declined.
Judge
Judge
Islamabad, the
9th September, 2020
Not approved for reporting
Azmat/-
