KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf parliamentary party leader in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh has urged Governor Imran Ismail to take notice of “politicisation of police” arguing that only an independent and professional police force could ensure rule of law in society.

In a letter to the governor, Mr Sheikh, who is also the acting president of the party’s Sindh chapter, claimed that politicisation of police had in the past been one of the major reasons behind poor law and order in the province.

He alleged that the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party was still using police to victimise its opponents while ignoring the apex court’s order to introduce police reforms.

He referred to some media reports suggesting that the PPP government was in the process of introducing a new ‘Police Act’ through the provincial assembly to curtail powers of the inspector general of police vested in the position under a Sindh High Court judgement. The judgement, he added, was later upheld by the Supreme Court when the Sindh government had filed an appeal against it.

Mr Sheikh recalled in his letter that before Partition, the British rulers had introduced the Police Act 1861 to maintain law and order, control the colonial subjects and collect revenues. Unfortunately, the same law remained in force until the federal government came out with the Police Order 2002 and promulgated it in all provinces.

In 2011, the Sindh Assembly repealed the Police Order 2002 which was a progressive and modern law and was aimed at creating a professional, service-oriented and democratically controlled police organisation, he said, adding that the Sindh government then revived the Police Act 1861.

He said that the repeal of the Police Order 2002 was challenged in the Sindh High Court when the provincial government sent the then IG, A.D. Khowaja, on forced leave and the SHC in its judgement accepted its jurisdiction to frame its own law but at the same time made IG the overall in-charge of the Sindh Police. The court also barred chief minister from interfering into the administrative affairs of the police department and directed the government to frame the rules granting all powers of transfer and posting to the IG. The judgement fixed IG’s tenure at three years.

The PTI leader reminded the governor that a similar judgement was given by the Balochistan High Court while the Lahore High Court gave the IG concerned security of tenure.

In the appeal against the SHC judgement, Sindh chief minister had argued that he, being the chief executive of the province, should have the authority to control the provincial police.

The SC also ruled that when there was a conflict between a federal law and provincial law, the federal law would prevail. “So, the federal government has the right to formulate a Police Act applicable to all the provinces,” Mr Sheikh said, arguing that Sindh Assembly could not enact such a law. However, he said, the Sindh government was reportedly bent upon getting a new Police Act passed through the provincial assembly in sheer violation of the SC judgement.

According to Mr Sheikh, the Sindh government wants to make the provincial police chief act on the dictation of chief minister and take on its political opponents.

“In this backdrop we appeal to you to use your good offices to ensure that the independence, impartiality, professionalism and non-political character of Sindh police is not harmed at any cost and all decisions of the apex court regarding policing issues in Sindh are obeyed and implemented; and the rule of law and Constitution prevails in the province....” he said in the letter.

Speaking to the media here on Thursday, Mr Sheikh said that a copy of this letter was sent to the chief secretary. He said nobody would be allowed to politicise the Sindh Police yet again as “we are reaping the bitter fruits of previous conspiracies that undermined law and order in Sindh”. He said political interference in the professional matters of Sindh Police was a main reason behind violence in Karachi and other parts of the province in the past.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2019