PESHAWAR, Jan 17: The prosecutors concerned have not withdrawn from prosecution against juvenile offenders who fulfil the conditions given in a notification issued by the provincial government six months ago.

It is learnt that the law department and the prosecutors have not been taking interest in cases falling under the notification.

After Governor Iftikhar Hussain Shah’s approval, the NWFP law department issued the notification on July 18, 2001, through which the advocate general and public prosecutors were asked to withdraw from prosecution of those juvenile offenders who fulfilled certain conditions.

The department directed that those juvenile prisoners should not be prosecuted: who were below 18 years of age; who were in jail for over 18 months; and, in whose cases the court proceedings had not started.

The department said that the notification would not be applicable to offenders who were involved in serious offences, including murder, terrorism and anti-state activities.

Most of the juvenile offenders languishing in prison are charged with drug pushing, under the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997. In a number of cases, they fulfil the criteria given by the provincial government but the prosecutors concerned have not been withdrawing from prosecution against them.

A public prosecutor told Dawn that the provincial government was itself not taking interest in the matter. He said that if he withdrew from prosecution against juvenile prisoners in narcotics cases, people would presume that he was bribed by the drug mafia. “Even my superior officers would ask why I am interested in getting such offenders released,” he added.

In one case, an alleged offender of 14 years age has completed more than  two years in prison but the public prosecutor has not withdrawn from prosecution against him.