PHC says private home raids cannot override constitutional rights

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has held that law enforcement agencies cannot disregard citizens’ constitutional protections, dignity and the privacy of their homes in the name of investigating alleged criminal activity.

The observation came in a written order issued while granting bail to two women and one man who had separately challenged their arrest after a police raid in Mansehra. The petitions were heard by a bench led by Justice Mudassir Aamir.

According to the court record, police raided a rented house in Mansehra and took three people into custody, later registering a case under Sections 371-A and 371-B of the Pakistan Penal Code. Police said the action followed public complaints and also claimed that a fourth suspect escaped during the raid.

In its ruling, the court noted that Sections 371-A and 371-B are aimed at curbing human trafficking and the exploitation of people through immoral activity. However, it said entry into a private residence could not be justified without concrete material showing human trafficking or sexual exploitation.

Justice Aamir observed that the first information report did not contain any allegation suggesting that the petitioners, or anyone else, had been involved in the purchase, sale, trafficking or commercial exploitation of human beings. The judgment also recorded that no money or other evidence of an unlawful transaction was recovered in the raid.

The court further found that the way the raid was carried out raised serious legal and constitutional questions, particularly because police had entered the residence without first obtaining a search warrant from a magistrate.

The written judgment said such intrusion into a private home, especially where women are arrested, directly affects constitutional safeguards under Articles 4, 9 and 14 of the Constitution, which protect human dignity, personal liberty and the privacy of the home.