Motorway incident: LHC CJ says police patrol system has ‘failed’

Lahore High Court directs high ranking officers to patrol streets between 11pm and 1am to maintain security

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Muhammad Qasim Khan lambasted the police department over a ‘failed’ patrolling system on Wednesday.

The top provincial judge gave the remarks during a hearing on petitions to form a judicial commission to investigate the motorway gang rape case of a woman that had sparked widespread protests across the country calling on the authorities for awarding capital punishment to the rapists.

Angered by the failings of the law enforcement agencies, the LHC CJ said, “Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) should be out on the streets for patrolling,” questioning whether the top official thought if the “province ended after Lahore?”

LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim asked the officials how many hours the IGP patrolled every day, “Tell me on what days and time the Punjab IGP patrols [the streets]?”

He then remarked that the senior police officers should be seen patrolling at night each day in every district during 11:00pm to 1:00am.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police for legal affairs, Jawad Ahmad Dogar, also appeared before the court and presented a reported to the top provincial judge.

He told the court that the report detailed the existing system of patrolling managed by the police department to which the CJP reprimanded him that it had clearly failed.

It is worth mentioning that ‘Diyat’ is an Islamic law in which financial compensation is paid to the victim or legal heirs of the victim in the case of murder, bodily harm or property damage as an alternative punishment.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2020.