Daily Times

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa on Tuesday directed the inspectors general (IGs) of police to take necessary action to get the required posts in the police department sanctioned by the their respective governments.

Chairing a meeting of the Police Reforms Committee (PRC), the CJP appreciated the performance of the police complaint redressal centres and agreed to hold a daylong national conference in Islamabad next month for the capacity building of police officers.

The meeting was attended by the IGs from Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the secretary of Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP). The agenda of the meeting included public complaints redressal mechanism; measures to improve quality of investigation; training of investigators and prosecutors; and enhancement of the effectiveness of criminal justice system in dealing with terrorism cases.

At the outset, the participants were briefed on the working of the PRC, according to a statement. A proposal for organising a national conference on investigation by the LJCP in collaboration with the National Police Academy (NPA) in Islamabad also came under discussion.

In his opening remarks, Justice Khosa, who is also the Chairman of the LJCP, said that the PRC was providing a forum to the police department to take vital initiatives for redressal of grievance of the general public. Speedy disposal of complaints “will definitely reduce the unnecessary burden of cases on the judiciary”, he added.

The IGs informed the PRC about the performance of their respective police complaint redressal centres from January 2019 to April 2019. The IGs further informed the participants of the meeting that a checklist had been prepared for the investigation officers (IOs), which would be followed before submission of challans in courts.

The meeting was informed that SOPs had also been prepared for conducting identification parade and other important factors required for investigation, which are mandatory for the IOs for completion of their investigation. The police department, in collaboration with the judicial academies, arranged courses and trainings for improving skills of the IOs, they added. The chief justice directed that in the event of any need for training, the federal and the provincial judicial academies could be taken on board.

After the presentations of the IGs, LJCP Secretary Dr Muhammad Raheem Awan proposed a national conference on the subject of investigation by the LJCP in collaboration with the NAP. The members of the PRC appreciated the proposal as a great initiative for the capacity building of police officers. Justice Khosa also agreed to the proposal for organising the daylong national conference next month.