Drug court keeps women accused in prison vans

Lacks temporary lock-up, washroom as it continues to operate without LHC approval

RAWALPINDI:

The newly established Special Anti-Narcotics Court No 2, operating from a privately rented residence outside the Kachehri premises without permission from the Lahore High Court (LHC), has created serious difficulties for women accused of drug-related offences and raised security concerns.

The court premises have been rented for Rs300,000 a month but lack a washroom for women accused and a temporary lock-up. Consequently, both male and female accused are kept inside a prison van while awaiting their cases.

District and Sessions Judge Khalid Bashir Cheema heads the new court, while lawyers said the court was also operating with insufficient staff.

Women accused remain confined to the vehicle from 8am to 4pm, spending nearly eight hours inside it. They said even attending to basic washroom needs had become extremely difficult.

The women and their relatives said they were taken from Adiala Jail at 7am and brought to the court by 8am. In the absence of a lock-up, they remain inside the vehicle in the heat until their cases are heard.

They said police officials told them to return to the jail to use the washroom, while the only washroom at the rented premises was reserved for the judge and could not be used by accused persons.

The women demanded that, if the court was to continue functioning from the premises, a room should immediately be constructed as a temporary lock-up, along with a washroom. Alternatively, a separate room at the residence should be declared a sub-jail lock-up until completion of the hearings, or the accused should be shifted to the Kacheri lock-up.

Relatives said the particular difficulties faced by women accused were not being given due consideration.

Lawyers also expressed concern over the premises, saying the low boundary walls posed a serious security risk. They said there was no proper sitting room for lawyers, forcing them to conduct proceedings while standing.

According to the lawyers, shifting a court from the Kacheri premises to a private residence requires formal permission and notification from the LHC.

They recalled that former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry had declared seven special courts operating outside the Rawalpindi Kachehri illegal in 2013 and ordered their relocation to the Kacheri.

Lawyers said that 13 years later, another court had again been shifted outside the Kacheri to a privately rented property at considerable cost.