Charge-sheets filed in less than half of cases

Incomplete investigations benefit suspects, who easily get bails

RAWALPINDI:

The performance of investigation officers (IOs) of 30 police stations in the Rawalpindi district remained poor as they filed charge-sheets in less than half of the cases registered during 2020 and that too in less severe offences.

The charge-sheets in only 11,115 cases of a total of 30,405 first information reports (FIRs) registered during the outgone year were presented in courts, The Express Tribune learnt.

Most of the charge-sheets were related to cases of kite flying, alcohol consumption, drugs, gambling, violation of the labor Act, etc. However, the challans in many serious criminal cases pertaining to murder, robbery, kidnapping, and rape were not submitted in the courts.

Senior lawyer Advocate Masood Shah said police were bound by law to submit charge-sheets within two weeks of the filing of the FIR.

Advocate Sibteen Bukhari was of the view that suspects charged with serious offences get released on bail due to the absence of charge-sheets.

The delay in filing of challan helps the suspects get bail and they go on to intimidate the victims and scare away the witnesses for testifying against them.

Another expert of criminal law, Advocate Najaf Al Hasnain said that for speedy justice, the challans in serious criminal cases must be promptly submitted to the courts.

It has been learnt that several investigation officers mislead the senior officials by submitting incomplete charge-sheets which ultimately benefit the suspects charged with serious offences and they are granted bails after which they disappear to avert action.

Faulty challans also help suspects win acquittal from court. The prosecution failed to prove its case, judges often decide in such cases.

For the last five years, it has been observed that the police’s performance of producing charge-sheets in the courts has ebbed away.

As per existing law, a challan of a case is required to be submitted to the court in a maximum of two weeks.

However, the practice is not followed and in a number of cases, the charge-sheets remain non-submitted for months.

The courts keep issuing notices to the IOs but to no avail as they don’t respond to them deliberately. This eventually leads to the suspect’s right to bail.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2021.