Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khan Khosa paid a visit to Central Police Office.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa said that independent judiciary is as important as an independent Police and such institutions should be indispensably free in order to control the crimes. He said that as a Chief Justice it has always been my priority that self respect of police officers and officials who come to courts should not be hurt. He further said that in police reforms committee constituted by former Chief Justice, he played his role in advancing the working of committee as a judge and as a lawyer in the light of his personal experience and for this purpose there has been full cooperation of all Inspectors General of all provinces and I am grateful to them in this regard. He moreover expressed that I am not convinced of judicial activism because when in any case, the administration and the respective officers not only get activated but also quick actions and proceedings get started by other concerned officers along with chiefs of the institutions resulting no need of taking suo moto action because on such occasions, suo moto actions affect the proceedings and actions of the institutions.
He further said that the role of investigation officers has been instrumental for provision of justice and it is their official responsibility to submit the challan in courts within given time limit according to the law. He said that false witness should not be made the part of any record and it should be discouraged at all level. He further added that the court has clearly revealed regarding false witness that it should not be accepted at all and actions have been taken against 15 false witnesses uptil now. He further said that if the investigation officer produced false witnesses in any case then he will also be equally held liable in the crime. He further said that if the true witness is weak and has no courage to present him in the court, then is it good that a false witness should be allowed to appear before the court which is strictly prohibited by our religion. Asif Saeed Khosa said that we not only provide the justice but also do justice in accordance with the law and false witness is itself a crime therefore it cannot be permitted to commit ten crimes in order to prove one crime. He further said that the object of investigation officer is only to find the ground realities and facts of the case and he is not supposed to take the statement of the plaintiff just to prove the FIR true. He said that the main objective of investigation officer is to reach into in-depth fact findings of the case and keep the court aware of the true facts. Chief Justice of Pakistan said that SP complaints have been appointed at every district in order to disburden the cases in courts and immediate registration of FIR which has shown positive results considerably. SP complaints heard the complaints of one lac twenty thousand citizens, upon which actions were taken and 95 percent complainants got satisfied before the registration of FIRs which reduced the burden of cases in courts and during this period 15 percent reduction in writ petitions for registration of FIR in high courts whereas 30 percent reduction has been observed in district courts which is appreciable and The police department deserves applause in this regard.
He further said that District assessment committees formed by the order of the judiciary are examining those cases in which the accused were either granted bail or acquitted in order to carve out their recommendations to identify the flaws in investigation system due to which the accused got bailed and released and these recommendations will also be shared with investigation officers so that they do not repeat the same mistakes. The recommendations of these committees will not only benefit the investigation system and investigation officers but also investigation officers will overcome their flaws and the criminals will not be able to free from the punishment consequently lowering down the ratio of crime considerably.
Asif Saeed Khosa further said that it gives me immense pleasure that Model Courts set up proved very helpful in trials of murder and narcotics cases especially focal persons deputed by the police department played a pivotal role in speedy trials by producing the witnesses in courts on time for this cooperation, all Inspector Generals and police department deserves appreciation. These courts trialled 24523 cases in 189 days and this is relieving for the judiciary that not a single murder case is pending in many districts of Pakistan. He further said that it was also observed that due to the delay in the cheque dishonour cases citizens were suffering a lot, judiciary took this matter on priority and after trials so far an amount of around 1 billion rupees has been returned to the actual owners which is very encouraging because when an accused know that his case will not take long in the court then he will think twice before committing a crime and this will also decrease the crime rate. Chief Justice further said that in case of any pressure for posting or transfer by the junior officer on their senior officers, a case of misconduct according to civil service laws must be initiated and if the individual influencing is a government officer than his case must be sent to NAB with proof. He expressed these views while addressing police officers during his visit to the Central Police Office.
Upon his arrival at Central Police Office, he was presented salutation by an active police contingent followed by his visit to police museum where DIG Legal Jawad Ahmad Dogar briefed him about the cultural heritage and historic documents. DIG IT Zulfiqar Hameed briefed Chief Justice about the IT Projects of Punjab Police and other initiatives of modern policing and shared that according to the directions of the supreme court working system of Punjab Police is upgraded which improved the police performance. Afterwards, Chief Justice addressed police officers.
IG Punjab while thanking Chief Justice on his visit to the Central Police Office said that Punjab police is providing every possible assistance to the courts for the provision of justice to the citizen and under trial case, on behalf of Punjab police i assure that directions of the supreme court will be followed in true letter and spirit and for the provision of justice to the citizen coordination with judiciary will be ensured at every level. He further said that as per directions of the Supreme Court initiatives like SP Complaints, assessment committees and model courts improved the police performance. Furthering the speech of Chief Justice he said that police and judiciary play a primary role in provision of justice to the citizens and autonomy and independence of both departments is an undeniable fact. At the end of the event IGP Punjab presented memorable souvenir to the Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Khosa, Senior Judge of Supreme Court Justice Gulzar Ahmed and convener Police reforms Committee Afzal Ali Shagri. On this occasion Senior Judge Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Secretary Law & Justice Commission Dr. Raheem Awan, Convener Police Reforms Committee Afzal Ali Shagri, IGP Punjab Captain Retired Arif Nawaz Khan, IGP Sindh Dr. Syed Kaleem Imam, IGP Baluchistan Mohsin Hassan Butt, IGP Khyber Pakthoon Khawah Naeem Khan, IGP Islamabad Amir Zulfiqar Khan, and IGP Gilgit Baltistan Sanaullah Abbasi along with all Additional IGPs of Punjab Police, DIGs, RPOs, CPOs and DPOs were present.
(Handout No. 419)
Nayab Haider
Director Public Relations
Punjab Police
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