Pakistan: FIRs and other documents obtained from Pakistani police stations and courts (follow-up to PAK36145.E of 24 January 2001)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 18 September 2001 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | PAK37640.E |
| Reference | 4 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Pakistan: FIRs and other documents obtained from Pakistani police stations and courts (follow-up to PAK36145.E of 24 January 2001), 18 September 2001, PAK37640.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be8b28.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
On 22 August 2001 a lawyer practising in Karachi stated that it is not possible for a member of the public to obtain a copy of an FIR at a police station officially, but one can obtain a copy unofficially, and that this is a routine practice. When an FIR is obtained unofficially at a police station, "[i]t is usually a photocopy or carbon copy of the handwritten FIR, as they normally do not type the FIR. They [normally] don't have typewriters or typists."
Regardless of the possibility of obtaining copies unofficially, the lawyer stated that under Pakistani law (i.e. officially), "only the informant (or complainant) can get a copy of the FIR. The accused or his lawyer can obtain it from the Court to which such information is to be sent" (27 Aug. 2001). The lawyer added that "[n]ormally the accused or his lawyer is not given a copy of the FIR. In fact the accused, if arrested, would spend twenty-four hours in police custody before anyone comes to know of his detention or he can do anything about it. Then the Magistrate comes into the picture" (ibid.).
Another lawyer consulted by the Research Directorate stated – contrary to the above assertion by the Karachi lawyer – that under the law the police are obliged to give a copy of the FIR to the accused as well as the complainant, but not to members of the general public who have no connection to the case (Lawyer practising in Lahore, 25 August 2001). The lawyer added, however, that
[l]aws and practices are two different things. If you have influence or are able to bribe the police you can get anything. If you are poor and marginalised you do not even get an FIR against you. ... I have found several clients in jail who do not have the FIR or know its contents. After years of struggle we were able to get the authorities to agree that the FIR be automatically sent to the jail once someone is arrested. It does happen but it means begging the jail authorities now. It does reach the court and can be got from there. If you try you can get copy of the FIR. A bit of a struggle though as survival is for any marginalised person in our country – unfortunately.
The copy [of the FIR] is a photocopy. If it is given officially to the accused it has the stamp of the police station – which means apart from the stamp on the original. The same goes for the arrest warrants etc.
Any copy obtained officially from a court has a stamp with the date on which the document was given to the person. There is a practice to get court documents through unofficial ways as well. It is common as it is quicker so even lawyers resort to it; otherwise you sit around waiting for the red tape to take its course or you rot in jail or suffer" (ibid.).
In reply to a question about the format of an FIR, Arrest Warrant, Proclamation or any other document obtained from a court, the lawyer in Karachi replied that a "[c]opy obtained from Magistrate's Court is generally a photocopy duly signed and stamped. Sometimes it is a transcription by hand or typed on a blank sheet of paper. Obviously if it is a photocopy, it is on the FIR form" (22 August 2001).
In reply to a question about the way a document officially obtained from a court is certified, the lawyer replied that "[t]he documents obtained from the Court are always certified (and called certified copy). It is rubber-stamped and signed bearing the Court's stamp and signature of the official issuing it. It is not embossed [with regard to embossing, see the below statement from the Rawalpindi lawyer]. There is no variation from Court to Court but [there may be an] exception ... depending upon the Court and the Province" (ibid.)
A Pakistani lawyer practising in Rawalpindi stated that when an FIR is obtained unofficially at a police station, it is usually a photocopy (31 Aug. 2001). The lawyer added that when a copy of an FIR, arrest warrant or a proclamation is obtained officially from a court, "it is by way of making an application on a prescribed Performa affixing court fee stamps over it. The copy provided is a photocopy bearing a stamp of the copying agency certifying it to be a true copy and mentioning the date of application and supplies date of the copy (ibid.)." The lawyer added that, with regard to these documents, "[t]he copies officially obtained from the court are always certified and the certification in case of all courts below the High Court is by a rubber stamp and signature of the copying supervisor or clark. In case of the High Court of Supreme Court the certified copy also bears an embossed stamp" (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Lawyer, Karachi. 27 August 2001. Correspondence.
_____. 22 August 2001. Correspondence.
Lawyer, Lahore. 25 August 2001. Correspondence.
Lawyer, Rawalpindi. 31 August 2001. Correspondence.