The strike of public prosecutors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for their demands of raise in salaries, incentives and establishment of the Prosecutor General Office, has entered its fifth day on Monday here badly hampering the court proceedings.
In the wake of the strike, public prosecutors were not appearing before the courts in hearings and police were unable to submit challans. The situation on one hand has badly affected the court proceedings while on the other hand public prosecutors were not ready to step back from their demands.
President Public Prosecutors Welfare Association, Sangin Shah has said that till acceptance of all their demands and provision of needed facilities to the female prosecutors at all the district court and offices were not ensured, the strike will continue across the province.
The litigants when asked said that the demands of the public prosecutors should be accepted by the provincial government as the strike was further adding to their problems in court related matters.
The strike has also disturbed the process of mutual investigation between the police and Counter Terrorism Department and the scrutiny of cases was halted. Besides causing disruption in proceedings of newly registered cases. The prisoners waiting for a court trial of their cases were also faced with difficulties and burden on prisons increased as accused involved in petty cases were being sent to the jails. The strike was causing a monetary loss to the provincial exchequer as fines imposed by the courts on accused of petty cases could not be submitted. Due to the prosecutors’ strike, prisoners waiting for hearing on their bail applications remained behind the bars and statements of witnesses could not be recorded in courts.