Inspector Investigation Vs Inspector Law

[water]

Which one is better than other in terms of exposure, promotion and perks ?

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[Amicable]

KARACHI: The provincial government is set to recruit 400 inspectors in the police department who will specifically be tasked to take care of nuances of law and subtleties of investigation to help an overburdened and ill-equipped prosecution department, it emerged on Saturday.

Officials said the provincial finance department had released an amount of Rs287.6 million for the creation of 200 posts of inspectors of investigation and as many posts of inspectors of law for the Sindh police during the current financial year (2013-14).

The officials said the new posts would be of grade-16, which were being added to the provincial police with the approval of the competent authority — the chief minister — mainly to help the prosecution department, which had been a victim of chronic neglect and badly equipped for decades that often put the authorities in embarrassing situations when most of the wanted offenders thwarted law-enforcement personnel’s efforts by conveniently slipping away for want of credible evidence during trial.

Each official recruited on the new categories would be paid Rs:59,915 in monthly salary, the officials said.

Although the finance department has released the money for the provincial home department, it is not yet clear when the new recruitments will be made and what criteria and educational qualification will be set for candidates.

The money has been sanctioned for the current year and would be debit-able under the head of employees-related expenses.

“It will be met with either by way of re-appropriations of funds or by obtaining supplementary grant / outside in due course during the current financial year,” said an official communiqué.

The sources were silent as to whether the professionals to be recruited to the inspectors-law posts would be required to be law graduates. The same is not specified for the ones to be inducted as investigation inspectors.

The officials said the induction of 400 officers was part of a plan being evolved to make the ongoing ‘targeted operations’ effective and help end future terrorist acts with efficient investigation and pre-emptive swoops on “criminal and terrorist gangs”.

Lately, the Sindh government called on the federal government for rectification of certain legal issues through amendments in the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO).

It said prosecution should be the primary function of provincial governments under the PPO.

A senior official said Islamabad had requested Sindh to provide necessary help and a number of special courts in the province along with location with proper security to witness, prosecution officials and judges, he added.

Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has already constituted a committee to approach the Sindh High Court (SHC) and evolve such a mechanism under which the cases, of which charge-sheets had been filed, pertaining to ongoing targeted operation, be decided within a week by anti-terrorism courts.

The officials said a large number of suspects had been released because of ‘weak charge-sheets’ submitted in courts particularly under the firearms act.

Department action against the police officers, who filed charge-sheets with defective arms, or licensed arms in the courts, is already being contemplated.

The government’s prosecution prowess has never seen the light of day for various reasons, mainly because of the ‘lack’ of a political will to strengthen it until the elephant in the room began to kill in face of rising militancy.

Former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, repeatedly criticised the weak prosecution side and asked the government time and again to strengthen it with noticeable investment.

Last time, he said this was in October when he said: “Due to defective and careless investigation and weak prosecution, a large number of terrorists and criminals get released by courts, which is not only lowering the image of judiciary but also encouraging the criminals.”

Officials acknowledge the criticism that every investigation officer (IO) has a heavy workload, which is one of the causes of deterioration in the standard of investigation.

Critics, however, are sceptical about expecting positive results from the government’s efforts, which they relate to the last year’s much-hyped witness protection bill, which was aimed at encouraging witnesses in terrorism cases to come forward without the risks of being marked.

Officials had then said the bill would be a huge step forward in ending the thirst of its prosecutors for credible witnesses who due to fear for their lives did not come forward to give evidence against the accused.

However, despite promises, the provincial government has not yet firmly established a ‘witness protection programme’ for protection and safety of witnesses, conceded an official.

January 19, 2014