Petitioner sought Islamabad High Court (IHC) directives to Sessions Court for judicial inquiry into alleged murder of a UK-AJK national Farooq Ali who found dead in his room at Ramada hotel Islamabad during last year.
A single-member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir will resume hearing of criminal revision on May 02 against Additional Sessions Judge decision to prosecute nominated accused persons allegedly involved in murder of Farooq Ali. The petitioner Dr Rehiana B. Ali, the sister of Farooq Ali says her brother has been living in Ramada by Wyndham hotel, Club Road, Islamabad since May 2021, adding, “We believe he was murdered on 11th or early hours of 12th March 2022. His body, however, was only ‘discovered’ on 16th March 2022.
Expressing deep sorrow and anger over demise of her brother, Dr Rehiana B. Ali urged the concerned quarters to play their positive role to determine liability of culprits allegedly involved in the heinous crime without delay.
Advocate Sharafat A Chaudhry is counsel for Dr. Rehiana B. Ali in the matter. At first stage he sought District Session Judge orders for registration of First Information Report (FIR) in the matter. The petitioner has alleged the police failed to conduct proper investigation saying no arrest of nominated accused persons was made and resultantly no evidence had been collected in the matter properly. Advocate Sharafat also filed a private complaint for judicial inquiry into murder but Additional District & Session Judge dismissed the complaint in October 22. Over dismissal of the private complaint, Sharafat A Chaudhry invoked jurisdiction of the IHC and filed criminal revision against impugned order of Additional District & Session Judge. He urged the court to set aside the session judge dismissal and issue directives to the Sessions Court for judicial inquiry into the death who will summon the accused persons in the large interest of justice.
Talking to TLTP, Sharafat A Chaudhry said that he has urged the IHC for directions to Session Court on the grounds that under provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code the trial court is competent to conduct judicial inquiry into contents of a private complaint where allegations have been levelled against accused persons. Resultantly, the trial court would have to summon the accused persons on sufficient grounds that connects them with commission of offence.
Citing a number of superior courts’ reported judgments, Sharafat A Chaudhry substantiated his argument saying the top court has settled a principle of law for the purpose of summoning the accused in response to private complaint the law only requires the availability of ‘sufficient ground’ as provided under Section 204 Cr.P.C instead of ‘reasonable ground.
Chaudhry further said that the term ‘sufficient ground’ for ‘proceeding’ against the accused person in complaint cannot be equated with the term ‘reasonable ground’ for ‘believing’ against the accused that he has been guilty of the offense. “In the present case, only the presence of unattended dead body at the premises of the hotel is enough and sufficient ground to proceed against the private respondents”, Sharafat A Chaudhry concluded.
