Police stop open courts to dismay of populace

For a city that is facing multiple issues such as a worsening security situation and a rise in crime rate, open courts, colloquially referred to as khuli kacheris, offered residents of Peshawar the opportunity to bring various crimes to the provincial police’s notice.

However, recently these courts have become dysfunctional.

According to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police Act of 2017, regular meetings of the open courts and police liaison committees, are to be held every month; to give residents of the northwestern province an opportunity to tell law enforcement offices about their grievances pertaining but not limited to illegal acts of individuals in their communities and or crimes.

Nevertheless, since August of this year, these kacheris have not been held in either Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) capital, or any other district of the province.

Resultantly, residents of Peshawar, who previously had the opportunity to discuss with the provincial police force matters relating to traffic, security, property disputes, and organised crime, have been left without a voice.

One such resident is Sharif Babu, a long-term inhabitant of Peshawar, who was an active part of the open court meetings.

“Previously, some of us from the community would get together and take part in the khuli kacheri, to point out to the concerned police officers where they were lacking in their job. For the past 3 months we have had no such forum,” informed Sharif, further adding that since the open courts had become dysfunctional, people in his vicinity had noticed an upsurge in drug peddling and gunpoint robberies.

“Since we do not have an audience with the police anymore, we have become afraid of residing in our neighbourhood as drugs like methamphetamine are being sold in the open and incidents of theft have increased,” he elaborated.

Another long-term resident of the city, Malik Nawaz, who lives in the Chamkani area, concurred with Sharif.

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The monthly open kacheri meetings were a godsend. Issues like property disputes would get solved fairly quickly as government officials, police, lawyers, and residents of our area would partake and offer solutions to everyone’s problems,” the elderly resident explained.

With the almost instantaneous grievance redressal system being discontinued, Malik feels that those who reside in the Chamkani area of Peshawar have been left handicapped.

“Ever since the khuli kacheris have been stopped, crime in our area has increased,” said Zareen Khan, a resident of the Mithra area, further reiterating Sharif and Malik’s views.

“The police should reconsider their decision of putting an end to open courts, as it was an effective mechanism to hold the police accountable and tackle the rising crime rate,” implored Zareen.

When asked about the provincial police force’s decision of putting an end to a mechanism that was working for many, Syed Ashfaq Anwar, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Peshawar, said that there was a misconception that these monthly feedback gatherings had been stopped altogether.

“Given the law and order situation, these meetings have been closed down only in-person. We are still conducting the khuli kacheris online. People can participate through the comfort of their own homes,” said the CCPO.

“In-person open courts are not a possibility anymore because the security situation is sensitive and we cannot put the lives of policemen at risk,” he further explained.

However, when pointed out that only one online open court meeting had been conducted since Syed had assumed charge back in May and that online meetings were unrealistic for Peshawar’s rural populace, the CCPO did not offer any alternatives.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2023.