LAHORE   -   The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered for transfer of all cases of custodial torture, deaths, and rapes, currently under investigation and registered after promulgation of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, 2022, to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for the purpose of investigation.

The court also ordered that in the future, if the police receive any complaints regarding custodial torture, death, or rape, then such matters should be referred to the FIA as per the act: “such matters shall be promptly referred to the agency to initiate proceedings swiftly in the spirit of the act. The police, having no jurisdiction to investigate such cases, ought not to drag their feet on these complaints,” it added.

The court further ordered that all cases of custodial torture registered after the promulgation of the act, currently pending trial before any other court, should be transferred to the sessions’ court for trial, as per the spirit of Section 6 of the act.

The court held that under the act, the FIA was the sole authority to investigate specific allegations of custodial torture, deaths, and rapes against public officials.

The court ordered that the issue of implementation of the act be brought to the attention of the Chief Minister of Punjab and the Federal Interior Minister to ensure swift and thorough execution of the act, besides asking the government to undertake all necessary measures to ensure comprehensive publicity of the provisions of the act.

Justice Ali Zia Bajwa passed the orders in a 17-page written verdict issued here on Friday in connection with a petition filed by Sarriya Bibi for the recovery of her relatives from illegal custody of the police. The court took serious notice of the fact that the detainees were not only killed in an alleged encounter but the matter was also not referred to the FIA for investigation as per the act. The court disposed of the matter, observing that the investigation of the case is now entrusted to the FIA.