SHC summons IGP to explain why police officials continue flouting court orders

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday took exception to the conduct of police investigation officers (IOs), station house officers (SHOs) and prosecution department in criminal cases and issued notices to the Sindh inspector general of police (IGP) and prosecutor general to explain their respective inaction and continuing defiance of court orders.

Hearing the bail application of an accused, a single bench of the SHC comprising Justice Omar Sial observed that the high court had been issuing directions to the IOs and SHOs to appear in court for assistance but they failed to comply with them.

The bench observed that the IOs as well as SHOs of the case were absent in the bail-related matter of a criminal case and the prosecutor general’s office was also unable to assist the court in their absence.

The SHC observed that in most cases, the prosecution was also unable to apprise the court regarding the facts of those cases, and due to non-assistance provided by the police and prosecution department, more delay was caused in the disposal of those cases.

The high court observed that several cases were taken up by it where apathy on the part of the police had been even more pronounced as even after several dates having been given to the prosecution to procure the attendance of the IOs, no compliance had been made by the officers.

The bench observed that in cases when the SHO of the police station concerned was called, it was rare that they appeared in person as mostly a person claiming to be the additional SHO of the police station appeared.

The high court observed that in the present bail application case, the Pirabad SHO had failed to appear before the court despite repeated notices, after which a non-bailable warrant (NBW) had to be to ensure his appearance.

The SHC observed that after that, the Pirabad SHO appeared before the court but the prosecution was unable to explain why the NBW was not executed against him.

The high court observed that the West SSP had been directed to appear but he also failed to come up despite the court order and if the SSP showed such lack of respect for court orders, perhaps it was asking too much that his subordinates complied with the court orders.

The SHC issued notices to the Sindh IGP and prosecutor general to appear before the court and explain their respective inaction as well as reasons for the continuing defiance of the court orders.

The bench also issued a show cause notice to Inspector Badarul Islam seeking explanation why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him for his failure to execute the NBW. The high court also directed its office to communicate order of the court to the chief secretary for his information.