LAHORE:
The Punjab cabinet will meet on Tuesday with the chief minister at Minar-i-Pakistan’s tent camp office to debate a multitude of pressing issues including the proposed restoration of Police Rules 1934, The Express Tribune has learnt.
According to the agenda, the Boiler Inspector Act and Restoration of Police Rules 1934, which would empower the home secretary to head the police department in all administrative and financial affairs, will be discussed at length.
The home department has prepared a draft which would restore the Police Rules 1934.
According to defunct rules, the home secretary is a competent authority for appointing the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) a task which had been shifted to the Inspector General (IG), under the Police Order 2002.
Heated talks are expected between the home secretary and IGP over the issue at hand, as the former wants to regain his power, whereas the latter is avoiding such a development as he has been in control since the promulgation of the Police Order, 2002. The Punjab government has already approved the restoration of the old deputy commissioner office in the province under the Local Government Act 2012.
The approved draft of the Local Government Act contained all the sections and provisions of the Local Government Amendment Act 1979. In this act, the office of deputy commissioner, assistant commissioners and regional commissioner existed. The post of district magistrate will not be restored, as it can only be restored after amendments in the Criminal Procedure Code are made by the federal government, according to an official requesting anonymity.
Transfer of power
The home secretary was previously the administrative secretary of the police department and all the correspondence with higher offices by the police were routed through the home department. But under the Police Order 2002, the IG was given the status of ex-officio secretary of the police department with limited financial and administrative independence.
Even the posting of superintendents and senior superintendents of police was handled by the IG. The home secretary was head of the departmental promotion committee. Under the Police Order 2002, that authority was later shifted to the IG.
It was the prerogative of the home department to prepare working papers for the promotion of DSP to the rank of superintendent of police. This task was also shifted to the IG to do independently. The home secretary was also the chairman of the Departmental Development Committee to decide the priority of development schemes in the police department, another task which was also entrusted to the IG.
“It would be a test case for the sitting IG Haji Habibur Rehman because same efforts were made during the tenure of (the former IG) Javed Iqbal but he did protest on this issue,” a senior police official said.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2012.
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Shameful. Country is faced with threat to its existence and we are moving to colonial ways and means to further oppress our poor population.
This is the most retrogressive step that one can imagine. The current challenges of public order are supposed yao be met by an colonial law and rules. Unfortunately, our bureaucrats cannot think beyond their nose. They just want their own powers to increase without any sympathy to general public. Instead of moving forward and incorporating modern concepts and international best practices, our wizards are moving backwards to colonial times. Pathetic to say the least.
This is putting democracy in reverse gear and instituting governance based on personal power.