ZARJUMA alias JAMNA BIBI vs STATION HOUSE OFFICER, POLICE STATION

' IQBAL HAMEED-UR-RAHMAN, J.---Through this constitutional petition the petitioner seeks quashment of F.I.R. No,564/2008 dated 9-10-2008 registered under section 365-B P.P.C. At Police Station Saddar, District Bhakkar.

2. Respondent No,2 lodged the impugned F.I.R. With the allegations against the present petitioner and 8 others including respondents Nos.3 & 4 that respondent No, along with others abducted the daughter of the complainant namely Mst. Zarina Mai forcibly for the purpose of committing Zina with her and also taken away an amount of Rs,2,50,000 along with gold ornaments weighed 15- Toals.

3. It has been stated on behalf of the petitioner that Mst. Zarina Mai the alleged abductee is present before this Court. The Investigating Officer has got recorded .Her statement under section 161 Cr.P.C.

Vide Zimni No,33 dated 9-4-2009 in which she has in categorical terms stated that no one had abducted her nor any body had pressurized her for entering into the matrimonial tie with Sardar Khan son of Toor Gull and that she has solemnized Nikah with respondent No,3 Sardar Khan according to Shariah; that she did not steal anything from the house of her father. She further stated that her marriage was solemnized by her uncle Niaz Muhammad. Certified copy of the Nikahnama is placed on the record. She further stated that the instant F.I.R. Has been registered by her father being annoyed of the said wedlock; that false case has been registered against her husband. Nobody has abducted her or kept her in illegal confinement. Her statement under section 164 Cr.P.C. Was also got recorded by the learned Special Judicial Magistrate on 28-10-2008 wherein she also stated that nobody had abducted her nor anybody had committed Zina with her. It is further stated that Mst. Zarina Mai is major and she has attained the age of puberty and as such she is fully competent to contract marriage with respondent No,3 Sardar Khan. In this regard reliance is placed on the case of Mst. Hajra Khatoon and another v. Station House Officer, Police Station Fateh Jang, District Attock and 2 others. (PLD 2005 Lahore 316). It is also submitted that simple statement of the abductee totally negates the story of the prosecution; that according to Article 35 of the Constitution Mst. Zarina Mai was fully competent to contract marriage with respondent No,3 and in the circumstances of the case the F.I.R. Cannot be allowed to stand in the field.

4. On the other hand, learned A.A-G vehemently opposed the arguments of the counsel for the petitioner contending that the F.I.R. Cannot be quashed without recording of the evidence.

5. The star prosecution witness in the case is Mst. Zarina Mai, who appeared before this Court and made a categorical statement that no one had abducted her nor pressurize her to enter into Nikah with respondent No,3 Sardar Khan and that she being sui juris with her free will and consent has contracted marriage with respondent No,3 and that she is A fully enjoying her matrimonial life with respondent No,3 and she is in her family way for four months and that she desires to accompany respondent No,3; that neither any offence has been committed by her husband nor by her. The case against the petitioner and others is concocted and fabricated story, which was got registered by father of Mst. Zarina Mai being annoyed due to her marriage with respondent No,3. Apparently from the physic and appearance Mst. Zarina Mai seems to have attained the age of puberty and according to the Muhammadan Law Section 251 every Muhammadan of sound mind, who attained the age of majority may inter into a valid contract of marriage. In this regard reliance is placed on the case of Mst. Hajra Khatoon and another v. Station House Officer, Police Station Fateh Jang, District Attock and 2 others (PLD 2005 Lahore 316).

6. The contents of the Nikahnama have been admitted by respondents Nos.3 & 4. The statement of the abductee Mst. Zarina Mai as well as the presence of the Nikahnama belies the prosecution story as B narrated in the F.I.R, which cannot be believed. When the Nikah has been admitted by respondents Nos.3 & 4, law does not permit others to challenge the validity of the Nikahnama when its contents are admitted C by the husband and wife. In this regard, reliance is placed on the case of Dr. Ghulam Mustafa Solangi and 5 others v. The State (2005 PCr.LJ 1638). Moreover, the Nikah of an adult girl is not invalid for want of permission of Wali and further marriage is not invalid on account of the D alleged absence of the consent of Wali. Reliance in this behalf is placed upon the case of Muhammad Imtiaz and another v. The State (PLD 1981 FSC 308) and Hafiz Abdul Waheed v.

Mrs. Asma Jahangir and another (PLD 2004 SC 219).

7. For what has been stated above, this writ petition is accepted and the impugned F.I.R.

No,564/2008 dated 9-10-2008 registered under section 365-B P.P.C. At Police Station Saddar, Bhakkar, is quashed.