Karachi law and order: Centre, province need to come on same page, says SC
Federal govt refuses to provide geo-fencing, says AG
A man fixing a CCTV camera in Saddar during Muharram last year. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
When it comes to containing violence in Karachi, the federal and provincial governments fail to have trust in each other and need to come on the same page, said the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday.
The five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali and comprising justices Amir Hani Muslim, Mushir Alam, Faisal Arab and Khilji Arif Hussain, was hearing the case on the implementation of the judgment passed in Karachi law and order suo motu case at SC’s Karachi Registry.
The remarks came when the bench was told that the federal government declined to extend geo-fencing facility to Sindh Police, despite the IG’s request. Meanwhile, the Sindh government failed to install high-quality security cameras in Karachi and hampered fresh recruitments in the police force under the garb of a ban. The judges ordered the provision of 3G and 4G locators to the police, immediate installation of high-quality closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and starting the process of fresh recruitments in the police.
At the outset of the hearing, attorney general (AG) Ashtar Ausaf Ali said the relevant federal authorities had no objection to Sindh IG AD Khawaja’s demand for provision of geo-fencing and 3G and 4G locators to the police. He opposed, however, the IG’s demand to give the police access to geo-fencing — the facility is only accessible to intelligence agencies for now. The information will be provided to the Sindh police within 24 hours of the request and within two hours for important cases, he said. The bench questioned why the interior ministry notification directing cellular companies to share data with the police immediately has yet to be implemented. The IG informed that in the recent kidnapping of Barrister Ovais Shah, the cellular company shared data 14 days after asking the police to approach them through the intelligence agency. Justice Hussain noted that police have become a provincial subject and should have the required facilities.
The apex court also ordered the prisons IG to submit a list of all those prisoners who were either released on parole or had absconded.
CCTV cameras system
The judges were visibly irked when the provincial chief secretary disclosed that only 17, out of a total of 820 CCTV cameras installed in Karachi at a cost of Rs500 million, were functional at the moment.
According to the chief secretary, the cameras had a resolution of two-megapixels and needed to be upgraded to at least three-megapixels. He claimed that money to buy the cameras was given to the IG, who pointed out that the funds were meant to procure transportation and arms only. He suggested the government to purchase the cameras by itself and run them through a private company as the police lacked the technical expertise.
Justice Hussain wanted to know why Rs12 billion were spent to install CCTV cameras in Islamabad’s Safe City Project but no such funds were allocated for Karachi. “Is there any difference in blood between the people of Islamabad and Karachi?” asked the judge. “People have been dying in Karachi for the last five years but the Sindh government has not taken a single concrete decision to control the law and order situation,” noted Justice Hani.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2016.
When it comes to containing violence in Karachi, the federal and provincial governments fail to have trust in each other and need to come on the same page, said the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday.
The five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali and comprising justices Amir Hani Muslim, Mushir Alam, Faisal Arab and Khilji Arif Hussain, was hearing the case on the implementation of the judgment passed in Karachi law and order suo motu case at SC’s Karachi Registry.
The remarks came when the bench was told that the federal government declined to extend geo-fencing facility to Sindh Police, despite the IG’s request. Meanwhile, the Sindh government failed to install high-quality security cameras in Karachi and hampered fresh recruitments in the police force under the garb of a ban. The judges ordered the provision of 3G and 4G locators to the police, immediate installation of high-quality closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and starting the process of fresh recruitments in the police.
At the outset of the hearing, attorney general (AG) Ashtar Ausaf Ali said the relevant federal authorities had no objection to Sindh IG AD Khawaja’s demand for provision of geo-fencing and 3G and 4G locators to the police. He opposed, however, the IG’s demand to give the police access to geo-fencing — the facility is only accessible to intelligence agencies for now. The information will be provided to the Sindh police within 24 hours of the request and within two hours for important cases, he said. The bench questioned why the interior ministry notification directing cellular companies to share data with the police immediately has yet to be implemented. The IG informed that in the recent kidnapping of Barrister Ovais Shah, the cellular company shared data 14 days after asking the police to approach them through the intelligence agency. Justice Hussain noted that police have become a provincial subject and should have the required facilities.
The apex court also ordered the prisons IG to submit a list of all those prisoners who were either released on parole or had absconded.
CCTV cameras system
The judges were visibly irked when the provincial chief secretary disclosed that only 17, out of a total of 820 CCTV cameras installed in Karachi at a cost of Rs500 million, were functional at the moment.
According to the chief secretary, the cameras had a resolution of two-megapixels and needed to be upgraded to at least three-megapixels. He claimed that money to buy the cameras was given to the IG, who pointed out that the funds were meant to procure transportation and arms only. He suggested the government to purchase the cameras by itself and run them through a private company as the police lacked the technical expertise.
Justice Hussain wanted to know why Rs12 billion were spent to install CCTV cameras in Islamabad’s Safe City Project but no such funds were allocated for Karachi. “Is there any difference in blood between the people of Islamabad and Karachi?” asked the judge. “People have been dying in Karachi for the last five years but the Sindh government has not taken a single concrete decision to control the law and order situation,” noted Justice Hani.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2016.