PESHAWAR, Aug 26: NWFP Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Iftikhar Hussain Shah on Wednesday promulgated an ordinance for the establishment of an independent prosecution institution with wide-ranging powers.
The NWFP Prosecution Service (Constitution, Functions and Powers) Ordinance, 2004, envisages establishment of the institution consisting of Director General Prosecution, who will be assisted by a number of officials including regional directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, district public prosecutors, public prosecutors, additional, deputy and assistant public prosecutors.
The institution will include the Directorate of Prosecution, to be headed by director general of prosecution. The provincial government constituted a five-member committee for framing rules for the purpose of carrying out various matters under the ordinance.
The additional secretary (coordination) NWFP home department, Muhammad Azam Khan, chairs the committee and its members are: deputy secretary (coordination) home department, Khalid Khan Umerzai, section officer (prosecution) home department, Idrees Khan, and additional public prosecutors Saleem Khan and Arif Khattak.
The establishment of an independent prosecution institution was proposed in the Asian Development Bank-funded Access to Justice Programme. As prosecution service is a provincial subject under the 1973 Constitution, the federal government had sent draft of the ordinance to provincial governments in 2002 for enacting the law at provincial level.
In Baluchistan, the law was introduced through an act of the provincial assembly, whereas in Punjab and Sindh the ordinance was promulgated. In respect of compound able offences, other than those which are punishable by death or life imprisonment, the director general prosecution, and in respect of offences punishable with imprisonment for seven years or less, the district public prosecutors may withhold prosecution if reasonable ground exists that the offence could be compounded.
However, if the offence is not compounded within one month, a report shall be lodged in the court of competent jurisdiction for prosecution and trial. They are also empowered to apply to the court for discharge of a case if its institution has been found to be wrongful or weak from evidence's point of view.
The ordinance also empowered the director general and the district prosecutor to keep a check on the investigation officer. Under section 5(e) the district prosecutor may ask the head of investigation in a district to take disciplinary action against investigation officer, where sufficient reasons exist to believe that the investigation officer colluded or has not exercised due honesty in conducting investigation, or misrepresented the facts of the case.
The director general or the district prosecutor may call for disciplinary action against the investigation officer through the competent authority in cases where police officers fail to follow any suggestion or instruction of the public prosecutor under this ordinance.
The ordinance has empowered the district public prosecutor/public prosecutor to supervise investigation of cases registered in a district. The law has made it binding on the SHO of a police station to send a copy of the FIR, after its registration, to the public prosecutor who shall inspect it and issue necessary directions.