' The petitioner seeks quashment of F.I.R. No, 285 of 1998 dated 25-5-1998 for offence under section 420, P.P.C. Registered at Police Station, Sadar Khanewel on the complaint of Jehangir alleging that he is permanent resident of Chak No,94/10-R and is a cultivator and 1-1/2 months prior, Abdul ziz son of Haji Ghulam Hussain, Yaseen son of Ahmad Bukhsh, both residents of same chak and Imtiaz Hussain resident of Chak No,93/10-R struck a bargain regarding their car No,4.000/SLG for a consideration of Rs,1,15,000 and the complainant struck the bargain of his own motor-cycle of without number Yamaha-100 CC Model 1995 for Rs,40,000/-at Chowk Astabal and that for the payment of the amount to be paid to Imtiaz Hussain, instalments were settled and that as they had mala fide intention, therefore, after six days lmtiaz Hussain and his brother Shahbaz Hussain who is an employee in Traffic Police and another colleague of them, namely, Fayyaz came to Chak of the complainant at his residence and informed that they had come from C.LA. Khanewal and that the said car was stolen property which they required and took the said car from the complainant by cheating and fraud and that the complainant alongwith Abdul Aziz came to C.I.A. At Khanewal where no action was taken and they all three went to Imtiaz Hussain etc. Demanded return of the motor-cycle which they did not and clearly refused to give the car.
2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the dispute between the petitioner and Jehangir respondent No,3 is purely of civil nature and the respondent Police Officer has no authority to register a criminal case before the decision of the competent Civil Court where a civil suit is still pending and status quo order has been passed and a contempt application is also pending and that in fact respondent No,2 S.H.O. Called the petitioner at the Police Station and forced him to compromise with Jehangir, respondent No,3 complainant to return the motor cycle which was refused by the petitioner and due to this the impugned F.I.R. Has been registered malafidely and that the contents of the F.I.R. Do not disclose commission of any offence and that the impugned FIR has been registered to teach a lesson to the petitioner for filing a writ petition in the High Court.
3. On the other hand, the learned Additional Advocate-General has submitted that the contents of the F.I.R. Disclose commission of offence under section 420, P.P.C. And mere pendency of a civil suit cannot be a ground for quashment of F.I.R. And that if the petitioner has any defence, he instead of coming to this Court should have produced his defence before the Investigating Officer.
' I have given due consideration to the valuable arguments on both the sides
5. The petitioner on 16-5-1998 filed Writ Petition No, 4036 of 1998 in this Court which came up for hearing on 18-5-1998 and a report was called from the respondents for 9-6-1998 and in the meanwhile, the respondents were also directed not to harass the petitioner and his family members. The impugned was registered on 25-5-1998 which fact demonstrates the mala fide on the part of the respondents. The agreement between the parties was reduced into writing on a judicial paper which is dated 25-2-1998. Civil suit filed by the petitioner against Jahangir complainant for the grant of injunction is also pending before a court of competent jurisdiction at Khanewal in which an order has been passed to the effect restraining the defendant (Jehangir) from taking into possession the disputed vehicle without due course of law. A contempt petition against Muhammad Nawaz, Reader to D.S.P., Headquarters, Khanewal is also pending adjudication.
There is also on record a final report of the inquiry conducted on the application of Jehangir, complainant, by Incharge Investigation Cell, Khanewal. According to this report, Jehangir has been held to be lier and the party of Imtiaz Hussain was held to be on the truth and that the application had been moved just to harass a Government servant and was liable to be filed. An application was also moved by Jehangir to Police Station Tibba Sultanpur, District Khanewal which was investigated by an Assistant Sub-Inspector of the police who concluded that dispute was of instalments of car bearing No,4400/SLG and that neither the Car was stolen nor was snatched, and that no cognizable case was made out on the complaint of Jehangir.
6. In the presence of the documentary evidence available on record, the registration of the impugned F.I.R. Is a clear cut device of mala fide just to harass the petitioner who is a Government servant and to yield to wishes of Jehangir, the complainant and as such the only intention of the complainant and the Police appears to be to help insult and humiliation on the accused party. The continuation of further proceedings, therfore, on the impugned F.I.R. Would be an abuse of process of law. I am of the considered view that it is a fit case where this Court should come to the aid of an innocent citizen. Reliance can safely be placed on the cases of Umar Hayat v. The State (1995 SCM R 1005). It was a case where the High Court converted the pre arrest bail application into a quashment petition and quashed all the proceedings taken in pursuance of the F.I.R. By observing that the only intention of the complainant party and the Police appears to be to help insult and humiliation on the accused party and in the execution of their designs they seem to have even the support of the local administration, including District Magistrate who happened to pass an order in routine for the disinterment of the dead body of a female baby for post-mortem. The complainant went before the Hon'ble Supreme Court by way of petition for special leave to appeal but their lordships refused leave by observing that the proceedings were rightly quashed as the observation of the High Court cannot be challenged on any legal ground.
The writ petition is allowed and the impugned F.I.R. Bearing No,285 of 1998 dated 25-5-1998 under section 420, P.P.C. Registered at Police Station Sadar Khanewal is hereby quashed. The Parties are left to bear their own cost.