Staff Reporter
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed the federal government to submit reply in one week as what was causing it to delay enforcement of police reforms 2002 that was also causing delay in administration of justice.
The IHC gave this direction while hearing a case pertaining to the non-enforcement of Police Order 2002. Last week, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah had converted the matter into public interest litigation and sought reports from the interior secretary, the chief commissioner of Islamabad and judges of trial courts working within the IHC’s jurisdiction.
Earlier in the day, as the hearing resumed, Additional Inspector General (AIG) Kamran Adil apprised the court that a police investigation officer (IO) was paid only Rs350 as an investigation allowance for each case.
Justice Minallah observed that the IO had to take evidence to the laboratory in Lahore.
Last week, Islamabad Inspector General of Police Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar Khan had submitted a report on the problems arising during the investigation of crimes that hindered administration of justice. In the report, IG had submitted that the investigation officer of a case had to pay Rs5,000 parcel fee from his own pocket to send evidence to a forensic laboratory for analysis.
“There should not be any laboratory fee or it should be the responsibility of the district administration to pay the fee,” he had said.
Justice Minallah noticed that by paying a meager sum of Rs350 to the investigation officer of a case, the system itself sets him up for corruption.
