Azad Khan V. The Station House Officer, Police Station Satellite Town Quetta and 2 others,
CLC 2014 687 · Balochistan High Court
This case is about who gets to have their version of events officially recorded by police after a violent incident. The petitioner, Azad Khan, said his father was killed and he and his cousin were seriously injured during a daytime attack. Although the matter was reported to the police station promptly by the injured cousin, the Station House Officer did not record the incident based on that account. Instead, the SHO filed his own version, which the petitioner believed distorted the facts and unfairly protected the accused by lumping victims and attackers together in a single case. When Azad Khan asked a Sessions Judge, acting as Justice of the Peace, to order a proper case to be registered based on his account, that request was dismissed without real examination of his complaint.
The Balochistan High Court found that there is no legal bar on registering a second police report about the same incident, as long as it presents a genuinely different account rather than just repeating the first one. The court rejected the argument that the petitioner's only option was to file a private complaint in court, noting that police involvement is often essential to gather evidence, especially in serious crimes. It also dismissed fears that allowing second reports would lead to endless competing versions, pointing out that the law already punishes anyone who knowingly gives false information to police.
The court ordered the SHO to register a fresh report based on Azad Khan's version against the accused persons, in accordance with law. This case matters because it clarifies that victims have a right to have their own account officially recorded when the initial police report appears inaccurate or biased.
یہ مقدمہ اس سوال سے متعلق ہے کہ ایک پرتشدد واقعے کے بعد پولیس کے پاس واقعے کا کس کا بیان سرکاری طور پر درج کیا جائے۔ درخواست گزار، آزاد خان، کا کہنا تھا کہ دن دیہاڑے ہونے والے ایک حملے میں اس کے والد قتل ہو گئے جبکہ وہ خود اور اس کا کزن شدید زخمی ہوئے۔ اگرچہ زخمی کزن نے فوری طور پر پولیس اسٹیشن کو واقعے کی اطلاع دے دی تھی، تاہم اسٹیشن ہاؤس آفیسر نے اس بیان کی بنیاد پر واقعہ درج نہیں کیا۔ اس کے برعکس، ایس ایچ او نے اپنی مرضی کا بیان درج کیا، جسے درخواست گزار کے خیال میں حقائق کو مسخ کرنے اور متاثرین اور حملہ آوروں دونوں کو ایک ہی مقدمے میں شامل کر کے ملزمان کو ناجائز تحفظ دینے کی کوشش قرار دیا گیا۔ جب آزاد خان نے سیشن جج سے، جو جسٹس آف پیس کی حیثیت سے کام کر رہے تھے، درخواست کی کہ اس کے بیان کی بنیاد پر باقاعدہ مقدمہ درج کرنے کا حکم دیا جائے، تو یہ درخواست اس کی شکایت پر حقیقی غور کیے بغیر ہی خارج کر دی گئی۔