LAHORE: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) cannot register cases under the Anti-terrorism Act (ATA) or itself investigate them.

The opinion has come from legal quarters of the Punjab government, also raising questions as to how the special terrorism force being raised by it would perform these functions vital for having terrorism accused punished by a court of law.

A number of law knowing officials of the provincial government told Dawn on Sunday that under the law, investigation of offences under ATA should be conducted by a police officer not below the rank of inspector who may be of district police or CTD.

But, under Article 18 of the Police Order 2002, investigation of cases is the basic duty of district police. And the CTD officers could not, therefore, independently investigate the cases. They can do so only after becoming a part of the joint investigation team under the district police.

The officials also doubted the locus standi of the CTD itself which was created under the Police Order 2002 through a home department notification in 2011.

They said the Police Order provided for creation of police establishment for every general police area “and not for any offence”. The CTD was created for countering terrorism which is an offence and the law does not provide for anything like this.

They said the CTD could arrest an accused but the powers to register a case and to investigate it lay with the district police.

The officials said to give a legal cover to the CTD or allow it register cases or investigate them, the provincial government was required to either amend the Police Order, or to introduce a separate law.

The Anti-corruption Establishment and FIA have powers to arrest an accused, register a case against him and to investigate them under specific laws framed only for them.