Law: Constitution of Pakistan, 1973

Section: 199

Law: Pakistan Penal Code (PPC),1860

Section: 186, 353, 148, 149

Tagline

An FIR registered against private citizens for allegedly obstructing public servants in the performance of their duties (under Sections 186 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code) is devoid of lawful authority and liable to be quashed under the constitutional writ jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 199 of the Constitution, where the public authority launched an eviction operation despite a valid court injunction being in field and failed to allege any specific or remote instance of physical obstruction by the accused.

 Summary

The petitioners, Muhammad Tahir Javed Cheema and Muhammad Shahid Javed Cheema, sought the quashing of FIR No. 592/25 (registered under Sections 353, 186, 148, and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, at Police Station Bhara Kahu, Islamabad) filed by the Deputy Director of the National Highway Authority (NHA). The complainant alleged that the petitioners obstructed NHA officials from performing their official duties by using criminal force during an eviction operation.

The petitioners contended that no such occurrence took place, that the NHA launched an illegal raid despite an active injunctive order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction regarding the termination of their lease agreement, and that the FIR represented a misuse of police authority. Conversely, the NHA argued that they followed due process to retrieve possession of the leased land after issuing numerous vacancy notices and that there were no extraordinary circumstances justifying the quashing of the FIR.