PESHAWAR, Aug 8: The provincial cabinet is likely to approve a new ordinance for the establishment of an independent prosecution service. It is learnt that the provincial cabinet will discuss the issue in its scheduled meeting on Aug 11.
The proposed Prosecution Service (Constitution, Function and Powers) Ordinance is item No 3 on the agenda.
The NWFP lags behind other provinces as far as enactment of the proposed law is concerned. In Balochistan, the law was enacted as an act of the provincial assembly last year. Similarly, Punjab and Sindh provinces also promulgated the said ordinance few months ago.
In NWFP the issue continued lingering on due to the unending controversy between various departments over control of the prosecution service. The controversy still persists between the law, police and home departments.
Initially, when the reforms were proposed under the Asian Development Bank's funded Access to Justice programme, the federal government sent the proposed ordinance to the four provincial governments in 2002 for discussing it as prosecution is a provincial subject under the 1973 Constitution.
Under the reforms in the prosecution it was suggested that an independent prosecution service will be established under the supervision of the home department. Before the reforms, both the police and law department used to manage the prosecution: at the sessions court level the law department had to look after it whereas at magisterial level the police department supervised it.
The provincial government decided that the prosecutors serving with different departments including the prosecution DSP, inspectors and sub-inspectors would join the prosecution service under the home department.
Sources in the service informed that initially the police department remained silent over the issue, but recently the high-ups had been requesting the NWFP chief secretary that about 80 prosecution officers functioning with the police department should be retained by the police.
The request was turned down twice following which a writ petition was filed in the high court by the prosecutors functioning with the police department requesting the court that they may be retained in the police department. The petition is pending before the court.
It is learnt that few days ago the prosecutors in the prosecution service had sent a letter to the President General Pervez Musharraf and requested him to take personal initiative for implementation of the prosecution reforms. The officers stated that due to negative attitude of law and police department the proposed ordinance could not be promulgated.
The prosecutors claimed that on Mar 17 a notification was issued whereby a separate prosecution directorate was created under the home department. They added that another order was issued on April 6 through which a DMG officer was appointed as director prosecution, whereas the same officer has already been functioning in an another department.
They claimed that despite the clear notification, the prosecutors had been functioning with the law and police departments, whereas the home department response was cold towards the issue.
The prosecutors requested the president to order that both civil and criminal cases should be dealt by the public prosceutors/ government pleaders. They added that a full time director should be appointed as the reforms process had still been in infancy and it could not afford appointment of a director performing dual functions.
Through the proposed ordinance wide ranging powers would be assigned to the prosecutor general, district prosecutor and public prosecutors. The public prosecutor would be empowered to lodge a case before the competent court for trial after receiving the final report.