KARACHI, March 3: The Sindh Criminal Prosecution Service set up to provide speedy justice to those facing trials in criminal cases failed to take off due to non-allocation of budget by the finance department.

The service, which was aimed at separating prosecution of criminal cases from civil cases, was created through an ordinance issued by the Sindh governor in July 2006. The ordinance has since been revalidated twice but the service could not be activated due to the non-availability of prosecutors.

The new service needs prosecutor general, deputy and assistant prosecutors and prosecutors for which funds are required. A summary for the purpose was sent to the finance department on September 13 last year but there has been no response from the department so far.

The delay in prosecution of criminal cases has created confusion in Sindh courts where about 60,000 cases are pending, resulting in delayed justice to the accused persons.

Another obstacle in the launching of the new agency is the attitude of the law department, which has refused to shift services of the existing prosecutors to the new department arguing that there is a wide gap between the salaries of prosecutors of the two departments and, hence, everybody would like to opt for joining the new service and this could create a staff shortage in the law department.

However, the management of the new service says it is ready to offer one-time option to the prosecutors serving with the law department but their appointment will be made as per the specified procedure.

Meanwhile, a presentation was made by the criminal prosecution service to the governor on February 7 where the latter directed the finance department that the posts and allocations thereof should be approved at the earliest to enable the new service to perform smoothly.

The aim of introducing the new service was to ensure speedy disposal of cases pending in the courts in large numbers. It was also aimed at ensuring independent prosecution in criminal cases that were hitherto investigated and prosecuted by the police department, creating doubts about the dispensation of fair justice.

Shahid Shafique, Manager of the UNDP-funded ‘Access to Justice Programme’ in the province, told Dawn that the obstacles had put the multi-million dollar project in jeopardy, indicating that the criminal prosecution service was a part of the overall judicial reforms programme.

The delay in the launching of the new service may lead to the withholding of the third UNDP instalment of $80 million, and if it happened, this would also adversely affect construction of courts and new jails in the province.