PJC orders construction work on forensic lab

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan on Thursday ordered the officials to launch the construction work establishing the Forensic Science Laboratory.

He issued the directives while chairing the 9th Provincial Justice Committee (PJC) meeting which took a number of decisions on justice delivery and related matters, said a press release.

The issues faced by the justice sector stakeholders were discussed in the presence of a number of senior officials.

The additional chief secretary informed the committee that the Peshawar Development Authority had been approached for the provision of 66 kanals land for the establishment of an independent forensic science laboratory.

PHC Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan said every possible effort be made by all the stakeholders to ensure quality, substantive and expeditious justice to people of the merged districts to boost their confidence in the justice system.

The additional IG police stated police officers had been trained and they had been posted in the merged districts.

The secretary home suggested that courts should not be shifted to North Waziristan due to law and order situation. However, he said, the district administration as well as courts would be shifted there as soon as the situation improved.

The additional IG assured adoption of security measures for the district administration, judicial officers and courts when they were shifted there.

About the shifting of courts to South Waziristan, the committee was informed that the provincial cabinet had approved bifurcation of South Waziristan into two districts.

The Senior Member Board of Revenue stated that notification in this regard was yet to be issued by the government, adding the place of sitting of judicial officers would be notified after finalisation of census and delimitation process.

The infrastructure requirements for district courts were discussed. The chair was informed that vacant building of Higher Education Commission had already been allotted to district judiciary in Peshawar.

It was decided that the offices vacated by Health Department, Mine & Minerals and Excise & Taxation shall be allotted to the district judiciary, Peshawar phase-wise, so that necessary improvisation for the establishment of courts could be carried out and the required number of judicial officers could be posted in Peshawar to reduce delay in disposal of cases. The IG Prisons said designing and construction of District Jail in Malakand had been proposed and the land for construction would be identified.

The chair directed the departments concerned to expedite the preparation of PC-Is and other allied matters so that courts and the other relevant departments could be connected for better administration of justice.