In the first month of 2025, the Rawalpindi police's inefficiency in investigating and submitting timely challans resulted in many criminal suspects walking free.
Court records reveal that a vast majority of defendants in serious cases were acquitted due to weak prosecutions and delays in filing charge sheets.
As of January 2025, a total of 47,856 cases were pending across 85 session, civil, family, and magistrate courts in Rawalpindi.
In the first month of the year, verdicts were issued in 2,160 cases, but convictions were secured in only 334 cases.
Meanwhile, 58 cases were resolved through settlements, and 1,826 serious criminal cases saw all defendants acquitted and released from Adiala Jail.
Between January 1 and January 31, 2025, Rawalpindi police registered 3,988 new cases, including 19 murder cases, 100 kidnapping cases, 14 rape cases, 262 robbery and mugging cases.
Moreover, the department registered 508 theft and 119 drug-related cases.
Among the 504 pending murder cases, verdicts were given in 22 cases, but only three convictions were secured.
In 2,609 robbery and mugging cases, 118 cases were decided, with only two convictions - the rest of the suspects were acquitted.
Similarly, out of 8,656 theft cases, only 437 saw a verdict, with 52 convictions.
In 927 kidnapping cases, only 12 were decided, with zero convictions. Meanwhile, all 53 decided rape cases resulted in acquittals.
For drug-related offences, 712 cases were decided out of 6,489, with just 44 convictions, while the rest of the accused walked free.
The police's failure to present complete and timely charge sheets has been highlighted as a key reason for the dismal conviction rates. Investigating officers frequently submit incomplete or temporary charge sheets, misleading senior officials into thinking the cases are progressing. Many cases take over a year before a final charge sheet is submitted, allowing defendants to secure bail and disappear.
Senior Supreme Court lawyer Shahnzaib Khan criticised the outdated and ineffective police investigation system, calling it a 100-year-old flawed mechanism.
He highlighted issues such as false witnesses, forensic shortcomings, and politically influenced policing as major obstacles to securing convictions.
"The investigation system must be modernized, computerized, and based on scientific methods. Until the police force is de-politicized and professionalized, conviction rates will remain low," he stated.
A senior police investigator, speaking anonymously, pointed out that political influence, inadequate resources, and administrative duties were hampering professional investigations.
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