Deadlock persists between IG, Sindh govt on Police Amend Act

KARACHI: A deadlock continued to persist between the Sindh government and the Inspector General of Police over who is authorised to transfer and post police officials, during a meeting to consider the proposed amendments in the Police Act.

The meeting to discuss and approve the proposed draft of “Sindh Police Act-2018” was held on Wednesday at the committee room of the Sindh Assembly with the Sindh Law Minister, Ziaul Hassan Lanjar in chair. The meeting among others was attended by Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Khan Siyal, IG of Sindh Police AD Khowaja, Sindh Home Secretary, Additional IG Aftab Pathan, and other officials.

The representatives of Sindh government and the police presented their respective proposals to amend the Police Act. The sources privy to the meeting said the Sindh government pressed its stance that the government alone is authorised to conduct transfers in the police from grade-1 to grade-21, and strongly contested the powers of the IG to do so. The Sindh government supported their argument by referring to the chief ministers of the other provinces who held that authority. While, the Police representatives advocated that the IG should be authorised to transfer and post the officers of the department. They also insisted that the police officers should not be transferred prematurely until and unless there were genuine reasons necessitating such a transfer, before the completion of the stipulated tenure.

The police officers also proposed a two-year term for senior police officers including the additional IGs, DIGs, and the SSPs, and a one year term for rest of the officers. They also proposed fixing a 55 year age bar for the SHOs, who must be inspectors or sub-inspectors. They recommended that the SHOs must have mandatorily passed all the police training courses.

Talking to newsmen, the Advocate General of Sindh, Zameer Hussain Ghumro, said the proposed amendments to the Sindh Police Act-2018 would make the provincial home minister more powerful and claimed that a better piece of legislation would be passed by the Sindh Assembly for managing the police force. He said the new amendments would also prescribe the terms of appointment and the posting tenure of the IG and other police officers.

Ghumro said the provincial governments are empowered to legislate in accordance with the Constitution, but the representatives of the police force have been involved in the consultations for their professional input. He said following consultations with the stakeholders, an amendment bill would be tabled in Sindh Assembly soon. The Sindh Home Minister, Sohal Anwar Siyal, said the provincial government is not considering to slash the powers of the IGP, but it is well within its constitutional powers to lessen or increase the powers of any authority. He also contended the Sindh government has the power to remove the IG.