KP fails to implement Police Act in letter and spirit

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government is yet to fully implement the much-debated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Act 2017 that was passed in January last year after almost three years of deliberations.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly had passed the Police Act in January 2017. “The public safety commissions at the district and provincial level and the police complaint authorities in all the regions could not be constituted even after one year of the passage of the act,” a source told The News.

The source added that a few districts have got the public safety commissions but over 20 others were still without these bodies. Not a single complaint authority has been notified in any region to keep check on the performance of the force and address grievances of the public

The KP Assembly had passed the Police Act early last year after almost three years of meetings and difference of opinion among various departments and other forums when the cabinet committee finally approved it.

Officers of police and a number of other departments as well as elected members had to spend more than two and a half years on drafting and amending the act. All this consumed a lot of time and energy and affected work.

The bureaucracy, particularly a few high-ranking officers were against some powers given to the police bosses under the new police act.

This delayed the passage of the act for almost three years. But even after the passage the act in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly over a year ago, many important sections are yet to be implemented.

“In August last year, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government refused to accommodate the amendments made by the bureaucracy even six months after the passage of the law.  Around 30 amendments were proposed in July and August last year though the act had already been passed seven months ago,” a source told The News.

The source said the Law Department on July 31 returned the draft of the KP Police Amendment Bill 2017 to the Home and Tribal Affairs Department on the directives of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.

Under the KP Police Act 2017, the inspector general of police does not need to seek the approval of the chief minister for transfer and posting of even the senior most police officers. The IGP also has complete financial authority.

A number of treasury and opposition leaders, bureaucrats and many from within the police force were against this section of the law ad they argued that the powers must be with the chief minister.

The accountability bodies set up at district, region and provincial level under the KP Police Act to keep check on the performance of the police force at the junior and senior levels.

Lawmakers, civil society members, retired officials and technocrats will be members of these bodies which are to be appointed through a transparent process.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Dr Zahidullah Khan said most of the Police Act had been implemented.

“Some components like Public Safety Commissions and Regional Complaint Authorities are to be established across the province. The members of these committees shall be picked by the scrutiny committees headed by judges,” Zahidullah Khan, Director General, Public Relations, KP Police, told The News.

He said the rules for the committee had to be formulated, vetted and approved in consultation with the Home and Law departments. “The process is almost complete and soon we will have Police Act 2017 fully implemented,” said Zahid.

The spokesman added that public safety commissions had already been set up in five districts of the province and these had started functioning.