by Jamal Khurshid in The News, Nov 15, 2020
Karachi: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has taken exception to the vague reports filed by the police department in different cases on behalf of the provincial police chief in which the court’s orders have not been complied with.
The high court ordered that in future no compliance report must be signed on behalf of Sindh’s inspector general of police (IGP) by any officer except an additional IGP (Addl IGP).
Hearing the petition of Mohammad Ali Rind, who had moved the court against the police department discontinuing the payment of his salary, the SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar expressed extreme displeasure over the vague report filed by the police department.
The bench said that police reports are filed on behalf of the IGP in almost every case and are signed by the AIGP (legal), but most of these reports are not only vague but also show non-compliance with the court’s orders.
The court said that it appears that the IGP is not taken into confidence while preparing and filing such reports on his behalf, so he is not even aware of the reports that are filed on his behalf in court.
The bench ordered that in future no report or compliance report must be signed on behalf of the IGP by any officer except an Addl IGP, while all such reports must be signed by the police chief himself, failing which they would not be accepted and be ignored.
The bench said that in the current case the court had directed the police to forward the case of the petitioner to the Sindh accountant general and settle his outstanding dues within 30 days.
The court said that in the pursuance of the court’s orders, the AIGP (legal) had filed a compliance report, but even a brief reading of the report shows that neither were the court’s orders obeyed nor did the respondents have the courtesy to file an application for an extension of time if they were unable to comply with the court’s orders.
The bench said that the explanation offered by the police officer was so lame and flimsy that it could not even be mentioned in the court order and was, therefore, rejected.
The bench directed the IGP to ensure that the court’s order is complied with without fail by November 30, failing which appropriate action will be taken against all delinquent officers, including the police chief. The court issued a notice to the IGP to submit a compliance report by December 3.
The petitioner had said that his salary was stopped by the police department without any reason. On September 21 the court had directed the provincial law officer to forward the
petitioner’s case to the AG, ordering that the entire claim of the petitioner must be processed and settled by the AG strictly in accordance with the prevailing rules, regulations and policies.https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/743869-high-court-irked-by-vague-police-reports-filed-on-behalf-of-igp
