Catching the killers: ‘No results if prosecutors on contract’

No incriminating evidence is found in a majority of cases.

KARACHI:

The judges monitoring the work to end violence in Karachi have strongly disapproved of the ad hoc and contract employment of special public prosecutors. Results will not be achieved unless they are permanent employees, they observed.

The two-member Supreme Court committee of Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany said it was a failure of the provincial government to permanently fill these clear vacancies.

On the outset of the day’s proceedings, the bench asked the inspector general of police about a major concern brought up by the five-member Supreme Court bench that took up the suo motu case of Karachi’s violence this summer. During one month, 306 murders were committed but 85% of these cases were closed after being put in the “A class” category, which means no incriminating evidence was found. “What happened to the investigations in these cases?” asked Justice Jamali.

“We are not treating these cases as closed,” replied Wajid Ali Durrani, the IG. “As soon as we lay our hands on an accused we open the case and work on it day and night. We have already observed that the police department has a good number of good officers and if seniors are entrusted with this task, better results are expected,” he observed.

The bench then turned to the prosecutor general for Sindh, Shahadat Awan, and told him the details of a meeting with Anti-Terrorism Court judges in the province who had complained about the prosecutors. They were  untrained, unskilled and did not know the ABCs of the law, the bench said.

Awan quoted figures, saying a sizeable number of posts were vacant. “Please submit a detailed report on which post has been vacant since when,” said Justice Jamali.

“We want to see how many prosecutors are appointed through the regular process and whether adhocism is prevailing or if they were hired on contract,” said Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany.

The IG tried to rescue the prosecutor general by saying that they had raised the appointment of prosecutors in a meeting with the law minister just a day earlier. “We want regular appointments that are made by the proper procedure and that people should not come from the back door.

“We were told that some of the prosecutors come to work as late as 11 am or 2 pm,” said the bench, adding that this was intolerable. The entire system was being managed on an ad hoc or makeshift basis. Judges were appointed on our judicial order. You want to solve all issues on the basis of judicial orders, the bench said, adding that it did not believe in interfering with the administration but it was not left with a choice. “Have you seen the conditions of these (anti-terrorism) courts?” asked the bench. They are functioning in small rooms - 10 by 10 feet with no infrastructure.

The PG sought time till Tuesday on the grounds that in the intervening period, vacancies would be filled on a permanent basis. But the bench promptly rejected the idea and asked how it was possible as recruitments were to be made through the Sindh Public Service Commission.

It is possible, we would shift the prosecutors from the districts to the special courts, suggested the PG.

This is not a solution, then the districts would suffer, the bench said ordering the chief secretary of Sindh, the secretaries of law and finance to appear before the bench at 1 pm Tuesday along with the IG.

The committee put off the hearing till Tuesday while main case’s hearing was adjourned till Thursday.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th,  2011.