Police failures delay trials, observes LHC

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has reprimanded the Punjab Police over incompetence undermining the criminal justice system and adding to the burden on courts.

The court asked how judges could be blamed for delays when police failures to complete investigations, arrest suspects in time and produce witnesses had stalled trials for years.

LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum sought an explanation from the provincial police chief over prolonged delays in investigations and failure to produce witnesses, asking how courts could be blamed for delays when police negligence was contributing to a massive backlog of cases.

The CJ was hearing a post-arrest bail petition filed by Muhammad Saim.

The court sought a report by October 19 on pending challans and cases under investigation, along with details of the department's mechanism to address the delay.

"IG sahib, have you examined this case? Your police officers are adding to the burden on courts. The challan remained pending for two years. When were the accused arrested, and why did the police not arrest them earlier?" the chief justice asked the Punjab Police chief who appeared before the court.

The chief justice remarked that police incompetence had damaged the judicial system, raising the question whether the court could be considered slow when judges were working but the police were failing to perform their duties.

"Is my court slow? The judge is working, while the police are protecting the accused. Should I appreciate this?" the chief justice remarked.

The court also asked what mechanism the police had devised to eliminate such delays and directed the inspector general of Punjab Police to submit a report, which would be examined in chamber.

During the hearing, the court was informed that the case involved 11 accused. The chief justice observed that, according to a report, the police had continued arresting new suspects even after witnesses had begun recording their statements, preventing the trial from concluding for six years.

The petitioner submitted that a double-murder case had been registered at Raiwind city police station in 2020, but the police had failed to complete the investigation or bring the trial to a conclusion. He claimed that he had remained in jail for six years and sought release on bail.

The court granted the police time to complete the investigation and produce the witnesses, while seeking a comprehensive report on pending challans and cases under investigation across Punjab.