Incomplete investigations and non-submission of challans (charge-sheet) in the statutory period is a major cause of delay in the early disposal of court cases. Despite repeated orders by the superior courts to district police officers to ensure the submission of challans within the prescribed period and take actions against the delinquent officers by treating them as inefficient under Police Order 2002, the situation still remains unchanged.
Although under the National Judicial Policy (NJP) 2009, action so far has been taken against over 2,000 delinquent officers on account of non-submission of challans within the prescribed period. But even then the required progress is still awaited and the superior courts are every day pointing out delays in the submission of challans.
To bring transparency in the judicial proceedings and the eradication of corruption, the performance of judicial officers and court staff is strictly monitored and the high courts have dismissed/removed a number of judges and court staff involved in corruption.
Penalties have been imposed on over 100 judicial officers, 500 district courts’ staff and 25 Supreme Court and high courts’ officials who were found guilty. A committee comprising the chief justices of Peshawar High Court and the Islamabad High Court, and the Supreme Court registrar, is functioning to review the performance of the Criminal District Coordination Committee and suggest measures for curbing corruption amongst the paralegal staff.
To extend the benefits of the Probation Ordinance, 1960, and the Good Conduct Prisoners Probation Release Act, 1926, the NJP set certain goals to consider the cases of deserving under-trial prisoners and convicts. According to statistics, so far 38,292 prisoners have been released on probation and similarly 486 on parole.
The judiciary keeps a close watch to supervise and protect the fundamental rights of the citizens as enunciated in the constitution to uphold the rule of law. The courts have flung into action the moment such rights were violated and appropriate proceedings were initiated for enforcement.
The competence of the judiciary can be measured through its decisions and approach. It is said that a judge should be a gentleman first and a gentleman last. Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the Criminal Justice Coordination Committees of the Peshawar High Court, and other high courts have expressed concerns over the non-submission of challans in time by police for trials. The committees have directed that criminal cases should be registered under the Police Order, 2002, against the responsible investigation officers and station house officers (SHOs).
A couple of months ago, a meeting of the committee, chaired by Peshawar District and Sessions Judge Ziauddin Khattak, discussed several issues, including the police’s failure to timely submit challans and FIR copies to the magistrates and district public prosecutors. The meeting was attended by officers from the district judiciary, police, Probation and Reclamation Department, Prosecution Department.
The committee observed that despite umpteen directions, police were not supplying the FIR copies to the magistrates and district public prosecutors, which was a legal requirement. Similarly, the ratio of services of the process of the court had become alarming; neither the accused nor the witnesses were attending the courts, which caused a delay in the disposal of cases.
It has been held that criminal cases within the contemplation of Articles 155 and 156 of the Police Order, 2002, be registered against the SHOs and investigation officers, who are not completing the investigation and submitting challans in court for trial within the stipulated time.
Crime prevention and investigation are the main duties of the police and their performance in this respect can provide a good measure of their effectiveness and efficiency, but contrary to this, policing in Pakistan remains problematic. The ineffectiveness of the police is illustrated by the low conviction rate in the country as well as the rising trend in crime and lawlessness in general. It is now widely acknowledged that the conviction rate is no more than 10 percent and the main reason for this, as in other South Asian countries, is the insufficiency of investigations by the police.
The National Judicial Policy, 2009, for the expeditious disposal of cases noted and recommended: “Non-completion of investigation and non-submission of challans in statutory period is a major cause of delays in disposal of cases. Since the police play a crucial role in administration of justice, therefore, the District Police Officers may be asked to ensure that the police should conclude investigation and submit Challans within the prescribed period of 14 days. They may be asked that the SHOs who fail to comply with this statutory provision should be treated as ‘inefficient officer’ under the Police Order and the court may also lodge a complaint under Section 166 PPC against him. The DPOs should also submit list of cases in which Challans are still pending for want of investigation for inspection and passing appropriate orders by the District and Sessions Judge.” However, neither challans are being presented in time nor disciplinary action is being taken appropriately against the delinquent police officers.