As judicial lock-up runs out of space, police opt for e-hearing

Authorities in the federal capital decided on Sunday that all the under-trial prisoners (UTPs) whose charge sheets are yet to be submitted will be presented before the court via video link from Adiala Jail as the lock-up at F-8 has run out of space.

The office of the inspector general of police (IGP) in Islamabad said that the decision to opt for an electronic criminal justice system was taken as the present judicial lock-up (Bakhshi Khana) established within the F-8 court’s premises was initially built to hold 250 UTPs.

The decision to present UTPs via video link has also exposed the lack of space and facilities for the prisoners at the federal capital’s district courts, which have long been neglected and appear more like a local market than court premises.

With the passage of time, the office said, the number of UTPs increased manifold due to variations in the demographics and needs of the criminal justice system in Islamabad. Resultantly, the present lock-up has “become insufficient for keeping the large number UTPs”.

In addition, it said, due to the weather conditions, there are unhealthy conditions within the lock-up, and UTPs protest for a spacious place as well as facilities i.e. fans, water facility, latrine, etc. Also, it added, there is always the possibility of UTPs escaping during transportation, and at times there are quarrels among the UTPs and others.

In order to resolve the issues, the police said, both the district & session judges of East & West Atta Rabbani and Kamran Basharat Mufti, respectively, were requested to convene a meeting of the District Coordination Committee to take up the issues.

Last week, both the district judges convened a meeting where senior civil judges, capital’s DIG Operation Sohail Zafar Chatha, SSP Operations Muhammad Jamil, SSP Investigation Farhat Abbas Kazmi, DSP Legal, District Prosecutor Naseem Zia, Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nazir, assistant commissioner of Saddar, and superintendent of prison police of Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, participated and took some decisions to overcome the issue at hand.

The meeting decided that the UTPs whose challans are yet to be submitted may be brought/presented before the court through a video link from the central jail for attendance through the e-court service to save themselves from difficulties at the Bakhshi Khana. They also figured that this will also save fuel otherwise used for transportation.

The decision, they said, will also save the deployment of police for this task and avoid risks of any eventuality during transportation of a large number of UTPs. However, the rest of UTPs whose cases are fixed for evidence will be brought regularly so that their trial could continue without further delay.

SSP logistics and SSP operations were also directed to do the needful regarding the production of UTPs whose cases are fixed for evidence well in time before the court so that their cases can be finalised without any delay.

In the meeting, the senior superintendent of prison suggested a proposal of establishing 4/4 booths for UTPs for appearance through video link for East & West divisions and stated that he has established four booths for each division which are ready to be used, and the remaining will be established within a few days.

With the establishment of the said booths, he said, UTPs’ production will be digitally recorded, and they will be saved from the problems at existing lock-ups, which cannot cater to a large number of UTPs.

The SSP investigations was also directed to ensure the submission of charge sheets of the UTPs without causing further delay within the stipulated period of 14 to 17 days under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code.