The curious case of police cases
Hundreds of pending cases are of minor nature and petty crimes such as cheque dishonour and violation of section 144.
ISLAMABAD:
While the legal branch of Islamabad Police disposed off more than 3000 thousand cases this past year, there are hundreds that still await completion of investigations. To make matters worse, some of these cases have been pending for more than four years now, police sources told The Express Tribune.
Majority of the pending cases are of minor nature and involve petty crimes such as cheque dishonour and violation of section 144, which prohibits assembly of four or more people with the intention to create law and order situation or for any anti-state activity.
Senior officials often issue show-cause notices to the Investigation Officers (IOs) for delays- some are even suspended from service. But the number of pending cases never decline.
Senior officials blame the delays on the “sluggish attitude” of the investigation officers. But the IOs blame political influences and lack of resources for delays in investigations.
“Gone are the days when the FIRs were dumped in drawers and forgotten,” said an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), who had many cases pending with him. He said that officers kept a constant check on their progress. “The other day I received a show-cause notice from my senior officer for delay in the arrest of an accused person in a cheque-dishonour case,” he added.
But sometimes the situation is beyond the means made available to the IO. “The suspect in this case has fled to Quetta. It will cost me more than Rs15000 to travel there, which I cannot afford. If I apply for official TA/DA it will not get approved in time,” he said.
Most of the police officials interviewed by The Express Tribune complained that by the time financial allowances required to travel to other cities got approved, the suspect changed their location which necessitated the funds-approval procedure to be started all over again.
“The allowances are meagre and we do not get reimbursed in time for the expenses we have to pay from our own pockets,” said another police official.
However serious cases, where resources are also available, never go pending, he added.
Skimming through the files of pending cases reveals that police officials hesitate to arrest religious leaders and mosque clerics.
For instance, a case was registered against Masjid-e-Kausar in Maqbool market in sector F-7/4 for violating the ban on the use of loud speaker in 2007. Three years later the case is still pending with the concerned police station.
“Our seniors felt the cleric’s arrest would have aggravated the prevailing law and order situation in the city at the time,” explained one investigation officer.
There are also a number cases registered against the former chief of Jammat-e-Islami (JI) Qazi Hussain Ahmad for violating section 144 by holding processions in the city in 2007 and 2008.
“Who dare arrest the former JI Chief? Those who tried to arrest him were suspended on grounds of alleged faulty investigation,” said one police official. “Now we have learnt our lesson. A show-cause notice is better than suspension.”
A senior official, off the record, confirmed this. “This is exactly how it happens. I think there should be rules to inform the investigation officer when a politician or a controversial personality involved in a case is not to be arrested,” he said.
However, not all police officials are hampered by procedure and their senior officials. In certain cases of petty crimes, like fighting between two parties, theft, robberies or cheque dishonour, the IO often tries to settle the issue out of court and tries to make money in the process for himself.
There have been instances where a police official took bribe from both the complainant and the accused, a police official said. In such instances the complainant ends up paying money for the early arrest of the accused while the accused pays to avoid arrest, and the investigations halt.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2010.
While the legal branch of Islamabad Police disposed off more than 3000 thousand cases this past year, there are hundreds that still await completion of investigations. To make matters worse, some of these cases have been pending for more than four years now, police sources told The Express Tribune.
Majority of the pending cases are of minor nature and involve petty crimes such as cheque dishonour and violation of section 144, which prohibits assembly of four or more people with the intention to create law and order situation or for any anti-state activity.
Senior officials often issue show-cause notices to the Investigation Officers (IOs) for delays- some are even suspended from service. But the number of pending cases never decline.
Senior officials blame the delays on the “sluggish attitude” of the investigation officers. But the IOs blame political influences and lack of resources for delays in investigations.
“Gone are the days when the FIRs were dumped in drawers and forgotten,” said an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), who had many cases pending with him. He said that officers kept a constant check on their progress. “The other day I received a show-cause notice from my senior officer for delay in the arrest of an accused person in a cheque-dishonour case,” he added.
But sometimes the situation is beyond the means made available to the IO. “The suspect in this case has fled to Quetta. It will cost me more than Rs15000 to travel there, which I cannot afford. If I apply for official TA/DA it will not get approved in time,” he said.
Most of the police officials interviewed by The Express Tribune complained that by the time financial allowances required to travel to other cities got approved, the suspect changed their location which necessitated the funds-approval procedure to be started all over again.
“The allowances are meagre and we do not get reimbursed in time for the expenses we have to pay from our own pockets,” said another police official.
However serious cases, where resources are also available, never go pending, he added.
Skimming through the files of pending cases reveals that police officials hesitate to arrest religious leaders and mosque clerics.
For instance, a case was registered against Masjid-e-Kausar in Maqbool market in sector F-7/4 for violating the ban on the use of loud speaker in 2007. Three years later the case is still pending with the concerned police station.
“Our seniors felt the cleric’s arrest would have aggravated the prevailing law and order situation in the city at the time,” explained one investigation officer.
There are also a number cases registered against the former chief of Jammat-e-Islami (JI) Qazi Hussain Ahmad for violating section 144 by holding processions in the city in 2007 and 2008.
“Who dare arrest the former JI Chief? Those who tried to arrest him were suspended on grounds of alleged faulty investigation,” said one police official. “Now we have learnt our lesson. A show-cause notice is better than suspension.”
A senior official, off the record, confirmed this. “This is exactly how it happens. I think there should be rules to inform the investigation officer when a politician or a controversial personality involved in a case is not to be arrested,” he said.
However, not all police officials are hampered by procedure and their senior officials. In certain cases of petty crimes, like fighting between two parties, theft, robberies or cheque dishonour, the IO often tries to settle the issue out of court and tries to make money in the process for himself.
There have been instances where a police official took bribe from both the complainant and the accused, a police official said. In such instances the complainant ends up paying money for the early arrest of the accused while the accused pays to avoid arrest, and the investigations halt.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2010.