Prisoners suffer for police inaction

RAWALPINDI, March 31: The brother of Hashim Ali is in the Adiala Jail for the last three months awaiting trial in a drug case. "The investigation officer had been changed, and therefore the report could not be submitted in the court to start trial against him," Ali told Dawn . His younger brother was arrested by the Civil Lines police for carrying 400gm charas. Waiting outside the court of an additional district and sessions judge, the plight of Ali`s family highlights how the ever increasing number of cases pending probe with Rawalpindi police were negatively affecting the people`s lives. Data obtained from the District Prosecution Branch show that increasing number of pending cases are causing problems both for the under trial prisoners and the complainants. In December 2009, probe into 4,676 first information reports (FIR) was pending in 25 police stations of the district. The number jumped to 7,750 in December 2010. The increasing number of pending cases is one of the major reasons for overcrowded jails as accused in minor cases are kept in the prison without trial. Adiala Jail, which also accommodates prisoners from Islamabad, has the capacity of 1996 inmates but at present it has over 5000 prisoners. For most of the time, investigating officers fail to submit their reports with 14 days of registering an FIR, as prescribed under the criminal procedure code. In December last year, the 25 police stations of the district had 17,654 criminal cases, but only 9,678 cases were sent to the court for starting trials. Out of the 9,678, probe within two weeks was completed only in 4,686 cases. A visit to the judicial lockup in the district courts revealed that daily 200 under trial prisoners are taken to the courts. Delayed submission of investigation reports within two weeks favours the accused, said District Public Prosecutor Malik Muhammad Asghar. Citing delay in probe, they seek bails from courts. Mr Asghar holds both the police and the judiciary responsible for delay in completing probes. "Trial courts are not following the high court rules that require day-to-day hearings of the under trial prisoners." Senior police officials say `overburdened policemen` without basic facilities fail to probe cases within the two weeks. An investigation officer has to bear all the expenses of travel, telephone and obtaining relevant record as he is probing a case, said a deputy superintendent of police DSP, requesting anonymity. He said the policemen were overworked, adding that besides probing into cases, they have to provide security and attend court proceedings. But Regional Police Officer Rawalpindi Hamid Mukhtar Gondal said despite all these problems, completing probes within the `given time` was the prime duty of police. "For the last many months efforts have been made to bring down the backlog of pending investigations. I have been personally visiting police stations to ascertain the actual causes of delay and penalising the guilty police officers." The RPO said he could understand delays in cases of heinous crimes and blind cases. "But in minor offences, probes should be completed sooner than later."