QUETTA: Balochistan’s Inspector General of Police Mohsin Hassan Butt said on Thursday that the Police Reforms Committee in its report had given highest priority to addressing public complaints against police.

He said that the committee had suggested that the complaints against police should be dealt with in every district by specially selected officers of integrity, of the rank of SP / DSP, who would have no other responsibility but to deal with the complaints.

The IG said the committee also called for ensuring speedy and fair disposal of complaints.

The sole benchmark of evaluating the success of this venture was reduction in number of people who after approaching the police with complaints had to approach the courts to get relief, he said.

He said if the idea was implemented in letter and spirit the excessive workload on the courts, over and above the adjudication of criminal cases, would be drastically reduced, enabling them to reduce the tremendous backlog of criminal cases.

IG Butt said the Supreme court’s decision about the Justices of Peace (JPs), asking the complainants if they had approached the police authorities with their complaints was nothing but a continuation of the existing practice of the JPs asking the complainants for an affidavit about them having approached the police and not getting any relief.

He said: “We have only tried to ensure that the complainant, once he approaches the district complaints officer, is provided immediate relief as per law. We assure honorable members of the bar that our basic goal is to strive for alleviating the sufferings of the common man vis-a-vis complaints against the police.”

He said the honourable bar members and police officers were partners in this noble endeavour and shall continue to be so.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2019