CrPC § 203A — Complaint in case of Zina

Statutory text (English)

(1) No court shall take cognizance of an offence under section 5
of the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979 (VII of 1979), except on a complaint
lodged in a Court of competent jurisdiction.

(2) The Presiding Officer of a Court taking cognizance of an offence on a complaint shall at once
examine, on oath, the complainant and at least four Muslim, adult male eye-witnesses, about whom the
Court is satisfied having regard to the requirement of tazkiyah-al-shahood, that,
they are truthful persons and abstain from major sins (kabair), of the act of penetration necessary to the
offence:

Provided that, if the accused is a non-Muslim, the eye-witnesses may be non-Muslims.

Explanation.—In this section "tazkiyah-al-shahood" means the mode of inquiry adopted by a Court to
satisfy itself as to the credibility of a witness.

(3) The substance of the examination of the complainant and the eye witnesses shall be reduced to
writing and shall be signed by the complainant and the eye witnesses, as the case may be, and also by the
Presiding Officer of the Court.

(4) If in the opinion of the Presiding Officer of a Court, there is sufficient ground for proceeding, the
Court shall issue summons for the personal attendance of the accused.

(5) The Presiding Officer of a Court before whom a complaint is made or to whom it has been
transferred may dismiss the complaint, if, after considering the statements on oath of the complainant and
the four or more eye-witnesses there is, in his judgment, no sufficient ground for proceeding and in such
case he shall record his reasons for so doing.

Source and verification

Source citation: CrPC (Act V of 1898) s.203A: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE' (Act No. V of 1898, last amended 2017-02-16), p. 102, 103, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

Verification status: verified · Text status: auto_transcribed_verified_source

The record cites an official source, but its transcription is automated or only partly checked; a human re-check is pending.

Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 102, 103) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment…

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