Islamabad (Report: Rana Masood Hussain)

The Islamabad High Court has prohibited the mention of previous FIRs in the police character certificates of individuals acquitted by the relevant courts in criminal cases and directed the Inspector General of Islamabad Police to immediately devise a procedure in this regard.

In its ruling, a single-member bench comprising Justice Ayaz Shaukat accepted a citizen's petition and held that after an accused is acquitted by a court in a criminal case, there is no legal justification for mentioning the FIR in the individual's character certificate.

The court ruled that issuing a character certificate by the police that mentions an FIR in a case that has been concluded is illegal and violates Articles 4, 9, 14 and 15 of the Constitution.

The court further observed that the police cannot portray an acquitted individual as a criminal in a character certificate. However, the police may retain such information in its internal records, but it cannot be included in certificates issued to citizens travelling abroad.

The court observed that Shalimar Police Station had mentioned an FIR in the character certificate issued to the petitioner and described him only as "discharged", thereby undermining his legal status, which was incorrect.

The court ordered the removal of the FIR reference from the petitioner's character certificate and held that citizens should not be forced to repeatedly approach courts to obtain rights that have already been granted to them under the law.