KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah decided on Tuesday to constitute a four-member high power committee to keep an eye on the performance of each and every case in the courts.
While presiding over a meeting to review performance of prosecution and progress of investigation at the Chief Minister House, the CM expressed displeasure on the investigation and prosecution of the cases, particularly under trial in Anti-terrorism Courts (ATC).
Chief Secretary Siddique Memon informed the meeting that in the month of June, all 19 ATC disposed of 101 cases, of them 77 were acquitted and 24 were convicted.
He said that in all the 27 district courts, 2,075 cases were disposed of in the month of June, of them acquittal was granted in 1,472 cases and conviction in 603 cases.
The chief secretary said that there are 1,618 cases pending in four Anti-corruption Courts. They disposed of eight cases in June and granted acquittal in seven cases and conviction in one case. The acquittal ratio comes to 12.5 percent.
The chief minister expressed his displeasure on the performance of 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 the poor investigation and prosecution wash away the entire exercise,” he remarked.
He directed the inspector general (IG) police to post most senior and seasoned policemen in the investigation. “This is a serious business, and it cannot be left at the mercy of inefficient and unwilling workers. Onward action would be taken against the concerned station house officers (SHOs) and investigating officers (Ios), if a case of terrorist nature is lost in the court of law,” he said categorically.
IG Ghulam Hyder Jamali said that he had posted 23 most experienced inspectors in Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) to investigate terrorism cases. “This move is bound to produce good results,” he hoped.
The chief minister directed the prosecutor general to appoint more prosecutors purely on merit basis. “I would give them additional allowances and also grant them additional salary as a reward when they would win case,” he said and ordered to constitute a four member committee comprising Home Secretary Mukhtiar Soomro, Prosecutor General Sher Mohammad Shaikh, Secretary Law and a deputy inspector general (DIG) to be nominated by IG police to hold monthly meetings to monitor performance of prosecution and investigation.
Chief minister’s adviser Murtaza Wahab said that most of the prosecutors are not efficient. “Their performance in the courts is very poor,” he said. On this the chief minister directed Murtaza to evaluate the performance of each and every prosecutor on monthly basis and take action against those who fail to perform.
On the suggestion of Home Secretary Mukhtiar Soomro, the chief minister ordered that regular meetings between the SSP Investigation and prosecutor general must be held to address the investigation and prosecution issues.
The chief minister also expressed his displeasure on the release of the accused allegedly involved in murder of Professor Waheeduddin.