ISLAMABAD: Police chief Ali Nasir Rizvi will seek an opinion from the prosecution department of the Islamabad police over the practice of “sealing” FIRs which had been termed against fundamental rights by a local court a few years ago.

The court order issued in 2019, however, has gone missing from the legal branch of the capital police and despite efforts over the past three days following the order of the IGP, the officials failed to find the judgement.

The police chief issued these directives on June 3 in a meeting on the issue that was attended by the police officers and officials from the legal branch.

Since the order could not be found, a decision on whether or not to continue this practice would be made after consultations with the legal branch in light of the contents of the judgement.

IGP to seek opinion from legal department; court order barring this practice goes missing from legal branch

PRO Taqi Jawad confirmed that during the meeting the IGP asked about the court order from the legal branch, but it was not available. “It will…be found as staff is looking for it,” he assured. He further said the meeting decided to restrict access to those FIRs which may cause a law and order situation.

‘No law to seal FIRs’

During the meeting, the IGP asked officials which law empowered the police to seal FIRs. The participants of the meeting said there was no law to this effect. IGP Rizvi, who served in Lahore as DIG Operations before coming to the capital, also asked the Punjab prosecution department and received the same response.

“If there is no law then why are the FIRs sealed,” asked the IGP. He was informed that the FIRs were sealed on the orders of the Operations Division. The officials at the meeting justified that only those FIRs were sealed which could cause a “law and order situation”.

The officials further said the FIRs were sealed only for the public, including the accused, but were sent to the investigating officers, legal branch, and magistrate per the legal procedure.

“However, investigation and other legal procedures, including arrests, are suspended till the directives of the senior officers,” they said, adding that in response the IGP showed reservations asking if the FIR was being shared with the IO, the legal branch and the magistrate then that defeated the purpose of keeping it under wraps.

Sources, however, told Dawn that the police chief was allegedly misled as the sealed FIRs were not sent to anyone. Not only is the FIR sealed but the relevant initial report registered in ‘Roznamcha’ (daily dairy) is also sealed, they claimed.

However, it seems the practice of sealing FIRs is a misinterpretation of Section 157-2 of the Criminal Procedure Code. This section empowers the SHO to suspend investigations in case of suspicion but only after informing the magistrate in writing. According to officials, at present the FIRs are sealed only on the verbal orders of senior officers, a deliberate attempt to keep their contents secret to blindside those nominated in them.

Court order

Last month, the police sealed six FIRs. Out of the six cases, three were registered at the Karachi Company police station, two at the Secretariat police station and one at the Industrial Area police station. Except for one robbery case in which US citizens were robbed, all FIRs were registered against the PTI leaders. The foreigners were robbed in I-8 Markaz on May 25.

The practice of sealing FIR, though in vogue, brings it in stark contrast to an order of the judicial magistrate, Rana Mujahid Rahim, in June 2019 when he directed the capital police not to seal any FIR as it was against the fundamental rights of the suspects as well as the complainants.

The court also ruled that withholding the copy of an FIR was against the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The order was issued in response to a plea by then-PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar who approached the court seeking direction to the police to provide him with a copy of the FIR registered against him at the Margalla police station

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2024