Proceedings Before Wafaqi Mohtasib
PLJ 2001 Karachi 263 (DB) · Sindh High Court
This case involved a dispute between a bank and two of its customers over forged cheques. The customers, N.J.N. Garments and Hosiery and Mrs. Nighat Nusreen, complained that cheques worth Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 1,30,000 were fraudulently encashed from their accounts, as the signatures were forged. The bank rejected their complaint, so they approached the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsman). An investigation, including forensic analysis by police handwriting experts, confirmed the signatures were forged, and the Ombudsman ordered the bank to refund the money. The bank, Allied Bank of Pakistan, challenged this order in the Sindh High Court, arguing that since it had been privatised before the Ombudsman's order, it was no longer a government "agency" and thus outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction.
The High Court dismissed the bank's petition. It held that at the time the account holders suffered the loss and when the Ombudsman first took up the complaint, the bank was still government-owned, meaning jurisdiction had properly attached. This jurisdiction continued even after privatisation, since there was no law saying pending Ombudsman proceedings would end upon denationalisation. The court also clarified that Ombudsman proceedings are not judicial in nature, so strict procedural and evidence laws do not apply, and the burden was on the bank to prove lack of jurisdiction, which it failed to do.
This ruling matters because it confirms that privatisation of a
یہ مقدمہ ایک بینک اور اس کے دو گاہکوں کے درمیان جعلی چیکوں سے متعلق تنازع پر مبنی تھا۔ گاہکوں، یعنی این جے این گارمنٹس اینڈ ہوزری اور محترمہ نگہت نسرین، نے شکایت کی کہ ان کے اکاؤنٹس سے بالترتیب 40,000 روپے اور 1,30,000 روپے مالیت کے چیک دھوکہ دہی سے نقد کروائے گئے، کیونکہ ان پر موجود دستخط جعلی تھے۔ بینک نے ان کی شکایت مسترد کر دی، جس پر انہوں نے وفاقی محتسب سے رجوع کیا۔ تحقیقات، جن میں پولیس کے خطاطی (ہینڈ رائٹنگ)