LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday submitted in the Punjab Assembly the “Police Bill 2017” which aims at transforming police into a powerful and apolitical force.

The PTI’s leadership in the assembly submitted the bill on the direction of party chairman Imran Khan.

Speaking at a news conference at the Assembly cafeteria, Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed said the bill was not aimed at political point-scoring but its passage would benefit the masses in general and the police in particular.

“The PTI will consult all political parties in the assembly including the ruling PML-N for the passage of the bill,” he said.

Mr Rasheed said the Punjab police were competent but the incumbent rulers had become a stumbling block in the performance of their duties. He said the police operating system in Punjab was faulty compared to the revamped system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The opposition leader said the Police Bill 2017 would help Punjab adopt an independent law instead of continuing with the federal ordinance “Police Order 2002”, issued during the dictatorial era.

Explaining different clauses, he said, the bill’s section 10 calls for constitution of a police board comprising eight senior police officers, which would devise strategy and present its recommendations to the police chief. He said the section 47 of the bill requires setting up of Public Liaison Councils at the union council level.

The bill submitted in the assembly carried signatures of 30 MPAs.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2017