KARACHI: Former head of the Intelligence Bureau Dr Shoaib Suddle on Tuesday called to activate the Public Safety Commissions at national and provincial levels to make police officers accountable, depoliticized, autonomous and making police departments on modern lines.
He was speaking at a roundtable on Police Reforms and Public Interest Litigations organised by the Rasheed Razvi Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights and the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research at the Arts Council here. “I don’t say Police Order 2002 was an ideal law, but I can say it a better as compared to Police Law of 1862,” he said.
The Police Order 2002 has acquired a system of accountability and provides tenure security to police officers. Tenure security in the judiciary has provided better results. He traced the history of police system in the Indian subcontinent and said the British government had initially introduced police systems in three cities of India, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras on the pattern of London Police.
At the time of independence it was also introduced in Hyderabad, Deccan. After independence, Pakistan adopted the same law. It was first time in the history of the subcontinent the some drastic changes were introduced inthe police system through the Police Order 2002. After the passage of the law it was amended 100 times through ordinances. But if the Sindh High Court orders restoration of Police Order in Sindh, it would be restored in its original form. “It unfortunate that we make good laws, but don’t make efforts for implementation,” he added. Faisal Siddiqi, an advocate who has filed a constitutional petition in SHC said that the petition was aimed to get the Police Order restored in Sindh. “We don’t aim restoration for AD Khawaja as Sindh IG but honorable SHC on first hearing of the case ordered it.” Sindh Assembly has replaced the Police Order by restoration of Police Law of 1862 which is not in its domain. It is a federal legislature that will make changes or repeal the Police Order, but not a provincial legislature because under the Constitution, only federal legislature has the authority.
