THIS is apropos of the letter ‘Providing safety to witnesses’ (Nov 21) by M. Sohaib Ali. The writer has rightly said that most of the criminals go unpunished just because of people’s fear of the consequences if the culprit is influential or a rogue.

Another factor is that police are also involved in corruption and present the investigation in favour of the culprit.

The police have two different departments for registering cases and prosecution. This makes police ineffective since the two divisions within themselves quarrel on the share from the money acquired as bribe.

The members of the ruling party in Pakistan are always complaining at TV shows that culprits are set free by even the high courts. The men in power do not realise that police does not have substantial evidence against the accused.

Just a few weeks ago, a criminal arrested by the police warned the advocate of other side not to appear in the court. The advocate residing at Old Anarkali, Lahore, appeared in the court against the said accused and was murdered the same day.

The moral of the story is that best way to solve this problem is to change the law of evidence. The magistrate/judge, whoever is hearing the petition, should go to the residence/office of the witness and record evidence in a single meeting.

INAYAT OLLAH SHEIKH Lahore