PESHAWAR:The Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court (PHC) Justice Musarrat Hilali on Friday chaired the 11th Provincial Justice Committee (PJC) meeting at the PJC Secretariat, PHC here.
The committee reviewed the implementation status of the decisions taken in the previous meeting and the chair expressed satisfaction with the implementation of the decisions.
A press release issued here on Friday said that directions were issued to departments regarding decisions partially implemented.
The Committee was informed that land at Hayatabad had been earmarked and possessed by the Home Department where after the release of funds by the concerned department, a state-of-the-art Forensic Science Laboratory would be established in a phase-wise manner.
The Offenders’ Management System and data integration of Justice Sector Stakeholders were also on the agenda.
The Committee was apprised that a Technical Working Group (TWG) was constituted in this regard where after deliberations and meetings, certain recommendations were made regarding data entry of all the documents in the public domain by the Police Department.
It was said that the IT Wing of the Peshawar High Court would ensure the introduction of the feature of accessibility of data to the presiding officers of the courts and it would work on introducing modules of police, prosecution, and prisons with a case flow management and information system while the prisons department would give regular updates on the deployment of the new software.
Regarding the simplification of inter-provincial transfer of accused persons, the Advocate General and Secretary Home informed the Committee that the requisite data had been shared with the Ministry of Interior for further process.
The representative of the P&D, Peshawar High Court, stated that the acquisition of land for the construction of Judicial Complexes at Newly Merged Districts is smooth, however, the allocation of funds was the need of the day.
The establishment of Shelter Homes and Dar-ul-Aman also came under discussion. The Secretary of Social Welfare informed that the Shelter Homes had been established and working on a regular basis in eight districts while for capacity enhancement of Dar-ul-Aman, one each in Peshawar, Mardan, Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, and Swat were reflected in ADP 2022-23.
Regarding the establishment of a facility at district DI Khan, it was directed that the bottlenecks shall be removed and in this respect, the Advocate General will coordinate with the concerned department.
IG Police informed the Committee that the security measures had been boosted at almost all the court premises in KP and similarly foolproof security had been provided to the Judicial Officer working in North Waziristan. He further appraised that though the law and order situation in South Waziristan was volatile, however, security would be provided not only to the Judicial Officers transferred there but to the court premises as well.
The committee also discussed jail issues and was informed that the Home Department would coordinate with the Public Health Engineering Department for the provision of clean drinking water in District Jail Karak.
Similarly, the matter regarding shifting of the Internment Center from Lakki Marwat Jail is in process and soon after its completion, the inmates will be shifted to the said jail.
The Secretary Home also informed that to cater for the provision of drinking water facility in the newly constructed Hangu Jail, funds have been released.
The directives issued by the NJPMC in the last meeting also came under discussion including expeditious disposal of cases of Under Trial Prisoners.
The Chair directed that Prosecution shall produce the Police witnesses before the courts immediately without unnecessary delay. Vice Chairman KP Bar Council was asked to take on board the Bar Members to prioritize the cases of Under Trial Prisoners.
She directed holding of regular meetings in this respect by the AIG Investigation and DG Prosecution to review the progress of disposal of cases and discuss the bottlenecks if any with the concerned District and Sessions Judge who shall take immediate remedial measures.
It was decided that the ratio of disposal of cases of Under Trial Prisoners (UTP) shall be reviewed in the next meeting hoping for the significant decline in such cases.
The Registrar, PHC, Advocate General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Inspector General of Police, IG Prisons, SMBR, Additional Chief Secretary, Secretary Law, Secretary Home, Joint Secretary Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan and others attended the meeting.