ISLAMABAD - Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa, being Chairman of National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC), on Friday assured the legal fraternity that the committee would consider amending its decision regarding petitions under Sections 22A of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
Chief Justice Khosa also assured that the suggestions of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) regarding Section 22A of CrPC shall be tabled in the next meeting of NJPMC.
Section 22A of CrPC is regarding complaint redressal mechanism. On March 11, the NJPMC under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Khosa had decided that the applications under Section 22A and Section 22B under Cr.PC may be entertained by the Superintendent of Police (Complaints).
But the legal fraternity of the country led by Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), lawyers’ apex body, had expressed reservations and resolved that the decision would turn the country in police state.
To convey the concerns, a delegation of representatives of the bar councils and bar associations from all over the country met Chief Justice Khosa at Supreme Court building where Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik was also in attendance.
Sources said that the chief justice, during the meeting, declined the demand of Vice Chairman Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Syed Amjad Shah to revert the decision regarding petitions under Section 22A of CrPC.
The sources added that the chief justice, however, assured the bar councils that NJPMC’s meeting to reconsider the matter shall be called as early as possible.
During the meeting, the PBC vice chairman demanded that procedure of entertainability of application under Section 22A and 22B of CrPC before SP Complaints and Ex-officio Justice of Peace should be followed concurrently.
He also demanded that the entertainability of applications before SP Complaints only should be optional instead of mandatory.
He opined that introduction of redressal mechanism will not end backlog because complainant will again approach the court after a week in case his grievance is not redressed by SP Complaints.
While talking to The Nation, Vice Chairman PBC Shah said that aggrieved persons, the citizens of this country, should not be discouraged in the name of ending backlog.
The sources said that when bar councils informed the chief justice that judges have stopped entertaining applications under Section 22A of CrPC, he responded that the decision of NJPMC is not retrospective.
According to Secretary NJPMC Dr. Muhammad Raheem Awan, who was also present during the meeting, told The Nation that the delegation also discussed a number of other issues with the chief justice including establishment of Model Courts at District level.
According to press statement issued from the office of Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP), the delegation expressed their concern about the complaint redressal mechanism.
Though, the LJCP has already clarified the NJPMC policy directive regarding jurisdiction of a Justice of the Peace under section 22-A(6), Cr.P.C and the jurisdiction of a High Court under Article 199 of the Constitution, yet it is once again clarified that the statutory provisions i.e. sections 22-A and 22-B of the Cr.P.C have not been altered or amended and still hold the field and the Justices of Peace still enjoy statutory powers and can issue directions for redressal of complaints regarding non-registration of FIR and grievances against police.
“The new police redressal mechanism just provides an alternative to the three tiers police redressal complaint system as enunciated in judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan reported as PLD 2016 SC 581, in which it is held that for redressal of grievances, the complainant has to approach the SHO, DPO/SSP and RPO/DIG.”
Therefore, under the NJPMC policy directive, the complaint redressal mechanism has been simplified by providing a single forum for redressal of grievances and also in-turn creating an internal accountability mechanism in the police department.
