CJP stresses importance of independent police institution

Justice Khosa reviews judicial, police reforms at a session on ‘Justice Sector Reform’

KARACHI: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khan Khosa has said that the independence of police is as important as that of the judiciary. The justice system would be undermined otherwise, he said on Friday, while addressing a session on Justice Sector Reform at the Central Police Office. "In the context of the criminal system, the police and judiciary are inseparable," he said.

The session was attended largely by serving police officials as well as some retired ones from across the country.

"We [police and judiciary] are conjoined twins and cannot work without each other," remarked the CJP.

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The CJP said that the reforms being introduced by the judiciary were closely linked to the police reforms initiated by his predecessor, former CJP Mian Saqib Nisar, who had constituted a Police Reform Committee comprising senior police officers as well as some of the most competent judges from across the country.

Justice Khosa said that since assuming responsibility as the CJP, he had taken up the agenda recommended by the committee one at a time to make the exercise "meaningful and lasting".

According to the CJP, the top most objective was said to be the improvement of police's image in society through the establishment of Public Complaint Committees in each of the 116 districts of the country. These committees would be headed by superintendents of the police and would be available to address grievances pertaining to the department.

"During the past few months, 71, 452 complaints were registered and 57,000 of them were redressed to the satisfaction of the complainant," said the CJP. Consequently, the burden on lower courts was reduced by 11 per cent. The complainants did not find any reason to approach the courts as their grievances were duly addressed, said the CJP. He added that a 20 per cent decline was also registered in the load on the high courts as the majority of public gripes were against the police.

He said that since most of the criticism levelled against the police had to with weak investigations leading to acquittal or release on bail of the accused by the courts, assessment committees were constituted for each of such cases. These committees comprised a retired sessions judge and young lawyers with the capacity to look into the issue so that they could identify defects in the investigation which were then duly conveyed to the relevant investigation officers.

False testimonies

Besides, false testimonies are a major challenge to the justice system. Concerted efforts are being made to curtail the practice and ease the burden on both the police and the judiciary, he said.

The CJP cited a recent judgment to prevent lies before the court as major step with equal attention to curtail extensive dependence of the police investigators on witnesses. According to him, efforts were required to ensure the police's capacity building with of updated techniques of investigation and due application of facilities available through forensic laboratory which is functional in Lahore.

He emphasised that the bulk of public complaints were related to criminal cases. "Hence, as per Supreme Court orders, no adjournment of these cases is being allowed while role over system has also been streamlined to facilitate judges to hear the cases on regular basis," he said.

The CJP referred to the Model Criminal Courts which have been made functional in 116 districts of the country. The model courts were able to handle 9,767 cases related to murder and narcotics trials in their first 86 working days, he said. "The good news is that in 12 of the districts of the country, there are zero pending murder cases."

With regards to the Model Civil Appellant Courts which were made functional on July 15, 2019, the CJP said that they have decided hundreds of cases in only four days' time with not a single complaint by the lawyers claiming that the legal procedure had been violated or a decision had been given in haste.

The CJP said that two other special courts for Gender Based Violence and Child Protection are also being established in each district of the country. These special courts would address issues that can simply not be ignored and the culprits could not be allowed to go scot-free, he said.

He reiterated that there was equal focus on speedy trial and special benches of revenue courts have also been set up which have helped recover Rs430 million.

E-Courts

Referring to the E-Court system, he said that this was the first time in the judicial history of Pakistan that cases in the Supreme Court were being heard through video-link connectivity. The E-Court system, with its principal seat in Islamabad, connected to the Karachi registry and the Quetta registry, has provided relief to litigants as well as lawyers, he remarked.



Former Sindh IGP and Convener of Police Reforms Committee, Afzal Ali Shigri, also addressed the session, as did the secretary of the committee, Dr Raheem Awan, and incumbent Sindh IGP Dr Kaleem Imam. Tribute was paid to the martyrs of the Pakistan Police Force and those injured in the line of duty. Family members of martyred officials were also invited to the event among other dignitaries.  

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2019.