IHC bars police from listing acquitted cases on character certificates

The Islamabad High Court has ruled that police cannot cite criminal cases in character certificates issued to citizens who have been finally acquitted, and directed the capital's police chief to frame a procedure to enforce it.

Justice Ayyaz Shaukat issued the order while allowing a petition by a citizen who asked that an FIR registered at Shalimar Police Station be removed from his police character certificate, ARY News reported. The court directed the Islamabad inspector general of police to establish a procedure ensuring that FIRs ending in final acquittal are not mentioned in certificates issued to citizens.

The judgment held that there was no legal justification for referring to cases in which a person had been finally acquitted, and that such references could unfairly portray acquitted citizens as criminals.

Police may retain the information in their own records, the court said, but it must not appear in the certificate handed to the citizen, particularly where the document is needed for travel abroad. The court also observed that citizens should not be forced to approach courts to secure rights already guaranteed to them under the law.

The certificate already issued to the petitioner was declared unlawful. ARY News reported that it described him as having been discharged during investigation despite a court's final decision in his favour. The judgment said portraying an acquitted person as merely discharged undermined his legal status.

The court held that continuing to mention an FIR on a character certificate after final acquittal violated citizens' constitutional protections under Articles 4, 9, 14 and 15 of the Constitution. ARY News described the ruling as a landmark one.

Daily Pakistan also carried the judgment, presenting it in its headline as relief for Pakistanis who need the document.

Character certificates are issued by police and are a standard requirement for visas, overseas employment and immigration paperwork. The judgment addresses a gap the petitioner's case exposed: an FIR that ends in acquittal remains on the record, and until now could appear on the certificate itself.

The court's direction leaves the wording and verification process to the Islamabad police. No deadline for the new procedure was given in the reports.