CCPO gets show cause notice over non-compliance

The judge had ordered attachment of his salary earlier in the week

LAHORE: Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Sarfraz Akhtar on Saturday issued a show cause notice to the CCPO for not complying with court orders in a matter involving issuance of bogus cheques.

At an earlier hearing, the judge had asked CCPO Amin Wains to take action against the SHO concerned over the latter’s failure to appear before the court in the matter.

Earlier in the week, the judge had ordered attachment of Wains’s salary over his failure to comply with court orders in another petition. He had asked the accountant general to not release his salary till action was initiated from the CCPO’s office against the Nawab Town SHO for allegedly assaulting an employee of the petitioner, Advocate Arsalan Abid. In his directive, the judge had observed that implementation of orders passed under Section 22-A/22-B of the Criminal Procedures Code by the ex officio justice of peace appeared to have become an aggravated issue in the city.

He said that in most instances orders passed by the ex officio justice of peace were being implemented through Lahore High Court’s intervention. “The aggrieved persons approach the SHOs concerned to seek redress of their grievances. When this does not help, they knock at the doors of the court for the purpose. The matter is then referred to the Lahore CCPO. The Lahore High Court’s intervention is sought as a measure of last resort,” he said.

The judge said that this had increased the workload of the apex court in the province unnecessarily. Besides, he observed that directives of a superior court are either implemented by the court that had passed the original order or through the subordinate court.

The practice of approaching the LHC to seek implementation of orders passed by the justice of peace appeared to violate the spirit of law and judicial hierarchy.

He said several notices had been issued to the CCPO with directions that salaries of SHOs concerned be attached and their production in the court ensured to seek compliance with court directives. However, he said, the CCPO had failed to comply with the court directives. “The situation reflects that public functionaries are adamant not to comply with court directions. This mindset is affecting the public at large,” he said.

The judge had asked the officials concerned to send a copy of the directive to the district and sessions judge so that the matter could be raised in the meeting of the Criminal Justice Coordination Committee.

The directive had been issued in a compliance petition filed by Advocate Arsalan Abid seeking action against police officials including the Nawab Town SHO for allegedly abducting and beating up his domestic helper. The court had directed the SHO to register an FIR and submit a copy of the FIR in the court. On the SHO’s failure to comply with court directives, the CCPO was directed to suspend him from service and submit a report on the matter on the May 23 hearing. No one from the CCPO’s office had appeared in the court on May 23.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2016.