Law: Pakistan Penal Code, 1860

Section: 420, 467, 468, 471, 34

Law: Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898

Section: 202, 294A

SUMMASR;

The petitioner filed two private criminal complaints in 1978 alleging that the respondents, along with certain public servants, committed cheating, forgery, use of forged documents and manipulation of official records concerning House No. 16-E-I, Gulberg-III, Lahore, owned and possessed by the petitioner’s wife. The Magistrate initially took cognizance after a police inquiry under section 202, Cr.P.C. However, on an application by a respondent under section 249-A, Cr.P.C., the Magistrate held that offences under sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 read with section 34, P.P.C. were scheduled offences under the Pakistan Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1958 and were exclusively triable by a Special Judge. The Magistrate consequently acquitted the accused under section 249-A, holding that the complaint before him was not maintainable.

The petitioner’s revision before the Sessions Judge was rejected because the Magistrate’s order, though passed without jurisdiction, was an order of acquittal appealable under section 417, Cr.P.C.; therefore, revision was barred by section 439(5), Cr.P.C. The petitioner then approached the High Court through a constitutional petition, which was treated as an appeal but dismissed for non-prosecution on 29 September 1984. His later restoration application was dismissed on 30 June 1992. He asserted that he had been abroad from 1983 to 1987, received no notice of hearing, and only discovered the dismissal in 1989 after engaging counsel to inspect the record.