PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday ordered the local police to quash an FIR registered against two tradersonthe orderofalocaldispute resolution council and ruled that the council had the powers to intervene in petty disputes with the consent of both the parties.

Accepting a petition of Rice Exporters Association vice chairman Haji Lal Mohammad, a bench consisting of Justice Nisar Hussain and Justice Mussarat Hilali ruled that the FIR registered against the petitioner and another person, Taj Nabi, at the Gulbahar police station should be quashed.

The petitioner contended that the Gulbahar DRC had overstepped its powers by first interfering in a pure civil dispute without his consent and then ordering the Gulbahar police station to register the FIR.

His lawyer, Noor Alam Khan, said complainant Mohammad Ahmad, a resident of Punjab, had a monetary dispute with two people, including Ijaz and Riaz few years ago.

He said the complainant approached another person, Taj Nabi, and asked him he would do business with him (Taj Nabi) and he should try to recover some of his money outstanding against the other two persons.

`Later, the complainant had a dispute with Taj Nabi after which he contacted the local Gulbahar DRC, which rejected his plea on April 13,2015, saying it is a civil dispute between the two parties and therefore, the complainant should approach a civil court for relief,` he said.

The lawyer said some in fluential pe ople later in fluenced the DRC to ask the complainant to file a fresh complaint.

He said this time around, the complainant also included the petitioner in his complaint to the DRC.

`In a surprising move, the DRC set aside its earlier order and in the absence of the petitioner it decided that the petitioner should pay Rs3.5 million in a month, while Taj Nabi should pay Rs5.3 million to the complainant, The lawyer said after the passage of a month, a senior police officer ordered the relevant official to register an FIR against the petitioner and Taj Nabi.

He added that the complainant had produced a cheque dating back to 2010 that he claimed was dishonoured and on its basis the FIR was registered on Mar 28, 2016.

The lawyer said the DRCs were created by amending the Police Order 2002 through a new section, 168A.

He added that under the said section, the DRC could only intervene in cases of minor or inconsiderable importance.

The lawyer said there were different judgments which provided that the DRC could only interfere in dispute up to Rs 100,000, and that too with the consent of both the parties.

He also said in case of dishonouring of a cheque, the affected person had to raise the issue within six months, whereas in instant case, the complainant had produced a cheque issued in 2010.