LAHORE: The Punjab Prosecution Department is losing around 50 prosecutors who have been reportedly selected as civil judges and have started giving their acceptance to the Lahore High Court to join the judiciary.

According to official sources on Tuesday, another 16 out of 32 prosecutors selected by the Punjab Public Service Commission during a lengthy process spanned over six months too have been selected as civil judges.

The reason for the departure of these officials is stated to be the lack of career prospects, facilities and status.

“They were selected with much effort and are taking away with them the experience vital for running the department and ensuing convictions,” an official said while confirming the departure of so many prosecutors.

He said the prosecution department had early this month requested the PPSC to recruit 100 prosecutors. But he admitted that it would take over six months to select them. A six-week training was also required for the prosecutors before sending them to courts to function. “Yes, the departure of 50 prosecutors is a shock for the department,” he conceded.

Over 200 prosecutors, mainly assistant district public prosecutors (ADPPs), had applied for 172 posts of civil judges announced by the PPSC some time ago.

They all were recruited as prosecutors from 2010 to 2012 through the PPSC.

Around 100 prosecutors of different ranks have already joined the judiciary and other services like FIA for better job prospects. Three out of the total 25 deputy prosecutor generals (DPGs) have become additional sessions judges in the recent past.

The common complaint among prosecutors in districts is that they have no or difficult promotion chances. They deal with police and appear in courts where the facilities and allowances are much better.

Almost all ADPPs do not have offices where they can check cases or refresh the memory of witnesses. They sit in the assigned courtrooms and do all this important work there and then in front of the defence lawyers.

The ADPPs and deputy district public prosecutors have no official transport, and they either go to the police stations or the courts by foot or, if affording, by their own transport.

The net salary of an ADPP is stated to be around Rs40,000 per month whereas a civil judge gets Rs70,000 per month. He is promoted to BS-18 (civil judge class II) after four years and to BS-19 in around 13 years. The further promotion is to the rank of additional sessions judge (BS-20), sessions judge (BS-21) and elevation to the Lahore High Court as its judge.