PHOTO: EXPRESS
Chief minister, Qaim Ali Shah, has expressed displeasure with the way cases are being investigated and prosecuted in the province, particularly those being tried in anti-terrorism courts. The CM has decided to constitute a four-member committee to keep an eye on the progress of each and every case in court.
He took this decision while presiding over a meeting to review the performance of the prosecution and investigation departments at the CM House on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by chief secretary Siddique Memon, the chief minister's advisor on law, Murtaza Wahab, principal secretary to the CM, Alamuddin Bullo, home secretary Mukhtiar Soomro, Sindh prosecutor-general, law secretary and other officials.
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The chief secretary, in his briefing, said that in the month of June 2015, the 19 ATCs disposed of 101 cases, in which 77 accused were acquitted. "This shows a 23.7 per cent conviction rate," he said.
Memon added that in all the 27 district courts, 2,075 cases were disposed of in the month of June 2015. Of these, acquittal was granted in 1,472 cases and conviction in 603 cases. "This shows 29.6 per cent conviction ratio," he concluded.
The chief secretary said there are 1,618 cases pending in the four anti-corruption courts. They disposed of eight cases in June 2015, granting acquittal in seven cases and conviction in one case. The acquittal ratio comes to 12.5 per cent.
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The chief minister expressed displeasure over the performance of the prosecution and investigation. "This cannot be tolerated. The culprits are arrested after a lot of hard work and sacrifices of the police, Rangers and other agencies but poor investigation and prosecution wash away the entire exercise," he said.
He directed the police IG to post the senior-most police officers in the investigation wing. 'This is serious business and it cannot be left at the mercy of inefficient and unwilling workers. Action will be taken against the SHOs and IOs if a case of terrorism is lost in the court of law," he said.
Sindh Police IG Ghulam Hyder Jamali revealed that he has posted 23 of the most experienced inspectors in the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) to investigate terrorist cases. 'This move is bound to produce good results," he said.
The chief minister directed the prosecutor-general to appoint more prosecutors purely on merit. "I will give them additional allowances and also grant them additional salary as a reward when they win a case," he said, ordering to constitute a four-member committee comprising the home secretary, prosecutor-general, law secretary and a DIG to be nominated by the IG to hold monthly meetings to monitor the performance of the prosecution and investigation departments.
The chief minister's advisor, Murtaza Wahab, said that most of the prosecutors were inefficient. "Their performance in the courts is very poor," he said. On this, the chief minister directed Wahab to evaluate the performance of each and every prosecutor on a monthly basis and take action against those who fail to perform.
On the suggestion of the home secretary, the chief minister ordered that regular meetings between the Investigations SSP and prosecutor-general be held to address the investigation and prosecution issues.
The chief minister also expressed displeasure over the release of the suspect allegedly involved in the murder of Professor Waheeduddin. "This was also a weakness of the investigation and prosecution," he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 19th, 2015.
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