Humayun Khan
PESHAWAR: Chief Justice Peshawar High Court (PHC) Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan chaired the 10th PJC meeting at the PJC Secretariat in which Advocate General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Additional Chief Secretary, Inspector General of Police, Inspector General Prisons, Joint Secretary Law & Justice Commission of Pakistan etc., were participants.
The implementation status of the decisions taken in the previous meetings were reviewed. The Chair express satisfaction over the decisions completely implemented and made directions to the relevant departments to implement the decisions that were partially implemented. There was a thorough deliberation on each agenda item. The Committee reiterated the need for the establishment of a Forensic Science Lab at Regional Levels and an indigenous and state of the art Forensic Lab at Peshawar to ensure investigation of cases on scientific lines.
The Committee was apprised that land is identified at an alternate location in Hayatabad and soon the process of acquisition of land will be completed and work will commence. Inspector General of Police briefed the Committee of the security situation in the Province and informed that adequate security measures have been taken to avert a security breach.
Towards integration of different computer applications developed by different departments, it was informed that by and large Police Database is integrated to High Court. PC-I for the purpose will be submitted for approval to the relevant forum.
Shifting of courts to the newly merged districts North Waziristan and South Waziristan also came under discussion. IGP stated that the security situation in both the districts is not conducive at the moment, therefore shifting of courts at this stage will not be feasible. The Chair asked about the continuation of already working court in North Waziristan, to which IG responded that security would be provided to the said court. Regarding shifting of Judicial Magistrate to South Waziristan, the Registrar informed that identification of space for the establishment of court is in the process.
After evaluation of the security situation and upon finding proper place of sitting, possibility of shifting of Judicial Magistrate to South Waziristan will be considered.
The directives issued by the NJPMC in the last meeting also came under discussion. The issue of disposal of cases of Under Trial Prisoners was deliberated upon and the Chair directed that Prosecution shall produce the Police witnesses before the courts immediately and no delaying tactics will be tolerated. Vice Chairman KP Bar Council was directed to take on board the Bar Members to prioritize the cases of Under Trial Prisoners.
Regular meetings in this respect will be held by the AIG Investigation and DG Prosecution to review the progress of disposal of cases. The bottlenecks if any shall be brought before the concerned District & Sessions Judge who shall take immediate remedial measures. It was decided that the ratio of disposal of cases of Under Trial Prisoners shall be reviewed in the next meeting and it is expected that significant decrease shall be ensured.
The law & order situation in the University of Peshawar was highlighted by the Chair. IG Police was directed to enhance the police force in the Campus. The University Administration shall be taken on board by the Police to prepare a road map for a safe and secure environment in the University Campus. The Chair also directed that the private security staff deployed in the University Campus is untrained, so the Police shall take measures to train them as weapon in the hands of an untrained person is more lethal.
