Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Questioning the performance of prosecution department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the Supreme Court on Tuesday noted that the provincial government was directed in 2013 to establish a forensic laboratory, however it had not yet been established.

A two-member Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Qazi Faez Isa noted this while hearing appeals in some criminal cases.

Justice Khan noted that the old prosecution system in KP was better than the present one. Referring to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s slogan of ‘change’ and his claim that ‘change’ had come in KP, Justice Khan observed that the system prevalent before the ‘change’ was much better than the incumbent one, adding that despite spending millions of rupees, the performance was zero.

The court rejected the bail application of accused Mujeebur Rehman, while accepted the bail application of another accused Jahanzeb Khan against the surety bond of Rs 0.1 million.

Mujeebur Rehman was accused of firing on three persons in Mansehra district of KP, while Jahanzeb Khan was accused of killing one person in the jurisdiction of Swabi Police Station on April 10, 2017.

During the hearing, the court put volley of questions before the KP’s law officers, however when they could not answer satisfactorily, Justice Khan observed that millions of rupees were being spent on the provincial prosecution department but the result was zero. “If the prosecution is unable to give performance then why it should not be abolished,” Justice Khan remarked, adding that the old system of prosecution was better than the present one.

Justice Isa observed that due to the incompetent prosecution of the province most of the cases of minor nature relating to bail matters came to the Supreme Court for adjudication. “How court can ensure justice when prosecution fails to provide the court real facts about a particular case,” Justice Khan observed.

Justice Khan recalled that in 2013, the KP government was directed to establish forensic laboratory, however the court’s orders were not implemented in letter and spirit. Justice Isa noted that if facilities of fingerprints and forensic labs would have been established in the province, the officers would not have been able to divert the cases in other directions. “As a nation we are dishonest,” Justice Khan observed, adding that 60 percent employees of departments remain on leave for the whole week.

Published in Daily Times, December 27^th 2017.