Bail, other pleas: LHC asks police to present status-wise criminal record

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has deprecated the practice of police submitting a list of criminal cases against an accused/ petitioner in bail, harassment, and habeas corpus-like cases without their final fate or present status.

The court; therefore, directed that the record produced by the police pertaining to the criminal history of any accused must show the status of whether such case is still pending or had culminated in acquittal, conviction, discharge, or withdrawal.

The court also said that the fate of every criminal case must be entered in the relevant Police Register maintained under the Punjab Police Rules, 1934, immediately after the pronouncement of judgment/ order and the same should also be entered in Police Station Record Management System (PSRMS)

The final fate of a criminal case is always decided by the court; therefore, a better coordination mechanism must be evolved to promptly convey the order of the court to the police station concerned for its entry in the relevant record, the court held.

The court ordered that instructions issued to the district heads of Punjab police regarding the submission of the criminal history of the petitioner/ accused by the Additional Inspector General of Police (Investigation) shall be strictly complied with.

It has been noticed that more than often, a petitioner’s criminal history is placed on the record containing a number of cases in which he had already earned acquittal, the court said.

The court observed that the criminal history must only reflect the cases where the accused/ petitioner was convicted, including the suspended sentences and all pending First Information Reports, wherein he stands arraigned as an accused.

The court said previous criminal history sometimes has, a profound impact and is often considered by the courts while granting bail, which is a relief discretionary in nature or other relief rooted in equity.

The court observed that after earning acquittal from the court of competent jurisdiction that criminal case has no relevance against the acquitted accused; therefore, mentioning any case, in which acquittal had been secured, in a list of lawsuits against that person, is violative of his fundamental rights and an attempt to prejudice the mind of the court through misrepresentation.

The court held that in reckoning the number of cases as criminal history, the prosecution in cases resulting in acquittal or discharge, or when the court quashed the FIR or the prosecution stands withdrawn, cannot be enlisted against the petitioner/ accused.

The court passed these directions in a petition of one Zulfiqar Ali who approached the court against the alleged harassment of the police.

The court directed the SHO Police Station, Kahna Nau, to remain within four corners of law and not to travel beyond the sphere of his legal duties.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022