ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of the plight of ordinary citizens who have to suffer at the hands of police and rampant ‘thana culture’ that prevails in many parts of the country, a two-judge bench headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja ordered the federal and provincial governments to come up with a comprehensive and effective plan to help redress their grievances as soon as possible.

“The high degree of apathy (on part of the police, etc) translates into failure to add­ress grievances of the people that causes frustration and may lead to lawlessness,” Jus­tice Khawaja deplo­red while dictating an order after Thursday’s proceedings.

Take a look: Rawal note: When police torture becomes the norm of the day

The court’s directions for the respective governments came as the court took up an application by Ms Isharat Rashid — a grade 20 college professor — who had been booked in a case by Attock City police for stealing a water pump from a market. According to the applicant, the water pump belonged to her and other family members.

A case was registered against her at the behest of a local lawyer, Tahir Javed Awan, who is embroiled in a property dispute with the applicant.

The family dispute, which began in 2013, revolves around a commercial property known as ‘Khanam Market’ located in the Civil Bazaar in Attock. It consists of 14 shops worth anywhere between Rs180 million and Rs200 million.

“Where should this lady go, the government should tell us,” the court observed.

In its order, the Supreme Court explained that it had taken up the matter with an aim to ensure that the criminal justice administration system could be improved.

The order regretted that the court received a number of complaints on nearly daily basis, most of which are against malfeasance on part of the police and other provincial departments.

These numerous complaints can neither be adequately dealt with by the apex court, nor is it the court’s primary function to delve into the transparency of police investigations.

This is the function that has to be performed by the federal and provincial governments, the court observed, adding that unless the state was sympathetic towards its people and performed its functions diligently, ‘thana culture’ would never end.

The judge observed that the court was not possessed with any impulse to manufacture “spine” or conscience among government officers, but if need be, the court could go to any extent to enforce the fundamental rights of citizens.

Throwing money at the problem is not a solution, the court said and emphasised the need for developing a system to rectify problems at the district level.

A report submitted by the Punjab Home Department some time in mid-January sug­gested that establishing an effective and efficient criminal justice system thro­ugh technology-based scientific investigation and prosecution methods that ensured fair treatment to public was possible.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2015

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