Apex courts reprimand prosecuting department for delay in trials
Three-judge bench equates prolonged capital punishment trials with denial of justice
PHOTO: REUTERS
LAHORE:
In a wake-up call to the prosecution department, the country’s top court on Saturday stated that unnecessary delays in trials of capital punishment cases were tantamount to ‘denial of justice’.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Dost Muhammad Khan, held that the “uncondonable delay in many cases becomes a cause of frustration both for the accused, the aggrieved complainant party and in some cases; the aggrieved party ordinarily takes the law into [its own] hands indulging in revengeful acts”.
This has sparked off unrest and intolerance which would ultimately have a negative impact on the performance of the government as a whole, the bench said in its judgment.
Show cause-notice: Apex court accepts LHC judge’s petition
“Of course, it is too late but we are constrained to give a wake-up call to the prosecution/state that in criminal cases involving capital punishment, the investigators and prosecutors, consisting of large fleets who are being sustained and maintained at the cost of taxpayers’ money of the poor people, shall diligently perform their statutory duties otherwise they will be guilty of violating the mandatory statutory provision of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Constitution and the law relating to the prosecution branch”.
“It is a universal principle of law that to have a speedy trial is the right of every accused person, therefore, unnecessary delay in trial of such cases would amount to denial of justice,” the judgement said.
The bench further said that with the object to put the criminal justice system into the correct channels the government had bifurcated the police force to preventive, investigation and prosecution wings.
Establishment of the systems cost dearly to the public exchequer but the exercise could not improve the system because supervising officers of these three wings of the police were taking least interest to streamline the working of each wing. “This conduct and attitude, as well as the performance of investigating, prosecution and detective agencies, are absolutely unacceptable,” the bench held.
Some of the witnesses either vanish being killed by opponents, meet a natural death or relocate, the bench remarked. This makes it a cumbersome job for the trial court to ensure their attendance, the bench stated. This is one of the major contributing factors in the pendency crisis of criminal cases. The court ordered that a copy of this judgment be sent to the attorney general of Pakistan, all prosecutors general, advocates general, and DIGs.
Similarly, the IGPs who are in charge of investigation wings, the ministry of interior, all chief secretaries, all home secretaries, IGP and chief commissioner of Islamabad are given directives to hold deliberations and consultations on the matter.
These parties, it said, should collectively and individually devise a proper strategy to arrest this grave menace of delay and the causes to immediately redress it within the minimum time duration, the bench added.
Furthermore, officers should ensure compliance with relevant legal provisions and to make accountable each and every officer found responsible for such delays.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2017.
In a wake-up call to the prosecution department, the country’s top court on Saturday stated that unnecessary delays in trials of capital punishment cases were tantamount to ‘denial of justice’.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Dost Muhammad Khan, held that the “uncondonable delay in many cases becomes a cause of frustration both for the accused, the aggrieved complainant party and in some cases; the aggrieved party ordinarily takes the law into [its own] hands indulging in revengeful acts”.
This has sparked off unrest and intolerance which would ultimately have a negative impact on the performance of the government as a whole, the bench said in its judgment.
Show cause-notice: Apex court accepts LHC judge’s petition
“Of course, it is too late but we are constrained to give a wake-up call to the prosecution/state that in criminal cases involving capital punishment, the investigators and prosecutors, consisting of large fleets who are being sustained and maintained at the cost of taxpayers’ money of the poor people, shall diligently perform their statutory duties otherwise they will be guilty of violating the mandatory statutory provision of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Constitution and the law relating to the prosecution branch”.
“It is a universal principle of law that to have a speedy trial is the right of every accused person, therefore, unnecessary delay in trial of such cases would amount to denial of justice,” the judgement said.
The bench further said that with the object to put the criminal justice system into the correct channels the government had bifurcated the police force to preventive, investigation and prosecution wings.
Establishment of the systems cost dearly to the public exchequer but the exercise could not improve the system because supervising officers of these three wings of the police were taking least interest to streamline the working of each wing. “This conduct and attitude, as well as the performance of investigating, prosecution and detective agencies, are absolutely unacceptable,” the bench held.
Some of the witnesses either vanish being killed by opponents, meet a natural death or relocate, the bench remarked. This makes it a cumbersome job for the trial court to ensure their attendance, the bench stated. This is one of the major contributing factors in the pendency crisis of criminal cases. The court ordered that a copy of this judgment be sent to the attorney general of Pakistan, all prosecutors general, advocates general, and DIGs.
Similarly, the IGPs who are in charge of investigation wings, the ministry of interior, all chief secretaries, all home secretaries, IGP and chief commissioner of Islamabad are given directives to hold deliberations and consultations on the matter.
These parties, it said, should collectively and individually devise a proper strategy to arrest this grave menace of delay and the causes to immediately redress it within the minimum time duration, the bench added.
Furthermore, officers should ensure compliance with relevant legal provisions and to make accountable each and every officer found responsible for such delays.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2017.