ISLAMABAD: The Peshawar High Court has rejected a petition filed by the wife of a university teacher accused of sexual harassment, who sought to lodge a separate FIR against the alleged victim’s family for manhandling and illegal confinement.
The teacher, affiliated with the University of Malakand, is under investigation in a high-profile harassment case that gained national attention earlier this year.
The court, comprising Justice Sabitullah Khan and Justice Salahuddin Khan, ruled that a second FIR concerning the same incident is not legally permissible under Pakistani law.
The judges directed the investigation officer handling the already registered case to record the statements of the petitioner and her husband under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Court Cites Precedent Against Duplicate FIRs
The bench referred to a prior Supreme Court decision, emphasizing that once an FIR has been registered for a particular incident, any additional information must be included in the existing investigation record — not through a new FIR.
The court found the petitioner had made no attempt to approach higher law enforcement officials before moving the court and dismissed her claim as premature and lacking procedural compliance.
The petitioner had earlier approached an additional sessions judge under Section 22-A CrPC, seeking intervention as a last resort.
That request was also rejected, with the judge calling her application “an afterthought,” potentially intended to defuse the main criminal proceedings against her husband.
Sensitive Case Involving Harassment Allegations
The accused teacher was arrested in February following accusations from a female student that he had repeatedly harassed her and attempted to abduct her from her home.
Evidence reportedly includes compromising media recovered from a mobile phone.
The petitioner’s counter-allegation claimed that she and her husband were attacked by the student’s family when visiting to resolve the matter.
The court held that she must first seek redress through administrative channels before legal escalation.
