PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday suspended the functioning of the much-publicised dispute resolution councils (DRCs) set up across the province by the provincial police officer and asked the advocate general to produce written explanation and relevant documents about formation of these councils.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Mohammad Daud Khan ruled that the functioning of DRCs would remain suspended until June 2, the next hearing into a petition of Qaisar Khan.

The chief justice observed that apparently DRCs had become parallel judicial forums functioning without any support of law.

He asked under what law, courtrooms were set up for the said councils in police stations.

Senior lawyer Imtiaz Ahmad appeared for the petitioner and said his client, a resident of Hayatabad Township, had a monetary dispute with another local citizen and that he was put on notice by the DRC set up in the west cantonment police station.

Asks govt to explain their legality

He said when his client did not appear before the council, he was warned of dire consequences by one of its member and was told that he was bound to strictly follow the council’s decisions.

The lawyer said when his client challenged the functioning of DRCs in the high court, he was informed that the council had rejected the complaint of his rival on the ground that the disputed amount involved was Rs2.7 million, which was beyond the jurisdiction of the council.

He said there were reservations about the functioning of DRCs, especially their membership as in the instant case, a property dealer, who claimed to be a lawyer, had issued the notice.

The chief justice observed that some lawyers had defamed the noble occupation of law as they had become property dealers but continued to act as legal practitioners.

A day earlier, the court took up the petition for hearing and asked advocate general Abdul Lateef Yousafzai to inform it on Wednesday about the formation of DRCs and the legal support for their functioning.

The advocate general said in the instant case, the relevant DRC had withdrawn its notice and stopped hearing into the dispute and therefore, it had become infructuous and could no longer be heard.

The bench observed that it had earlier taken notice of the issue in some other cases in Feb and had issued notice to the relevant officials asking them to inform it about the legality of DRCs but until now, the sought-0after information hadn’t been produced.

The advocate general said DRCs were established by the government through standing orders and that those orders would be produced before the court during the next hearing.

Currently, around 50 DRCs function across the province under a foreign-funded project.

Initially, a DRC was established at the Gulbahar police station in Jan 2014.

There are superior panels in DRCs to hear the cases already decided by regular panels. However, they’re not acceptable to one or the other party.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play