Minister for Law and Justice Abdul Haq Khan on Sunday directed the prosecution wing of the J&K Police to improve the investigation process in criminal cases so that justice system can be improved.Minister said this while reviewing the performance of the prosecution wing of JK Police in Jammu Division. Minister said the biggest hurdle in the timely deliverance of justice is the faulty investigation. He said the loopholes left in the investigation by the concerned Investigating Officers take toll on the deliverance of justice as these things help a criminal to go scot-free.He said the after this observation, the government is mulling to improve the criminal justice system in the state by fine tunning the investigation process. He said government is in the process of deputing dedicated Police Officers for investigation and it has started showing results on the ground.The meeting was attended by Advocate General Jehangir Iqbal Ganai, ADGP VK Singh, Law Secretary Abdul Majeed Bhat, Additional Secretary Law, Achal Sethi, Director Prosecution, DIGs of various zones, Chief Public Prosecutors, Public Prosecutors and other officers of Prosecution Wing of the JK Police Department and Law Department.
On the occasion, the minister reviewed the action taken report on various directions passed by the minister during past review meetings. The minister also sought report from the officials about the action taken against the government officials including police officials who have not appeared as witnesses in various cases in court this affecting the timely deliverance of justice.Minister was informed that a list of officials is being prepared by concerned Prosecuting officers and action will be taken against the officials who fail to appear as a witness or change their statements during the course of trial.Earlier the Minister had directed law officials to invoke perjury against officials or private parties who turn hostile during trial of cases thus affecting the deliverance of justice.He stressed the investigating agencies to work diligently to make the investigation foolproof which is prerequisite to the deliverance of justice. He said coordination among the investigating agencies, forensic and medical experts and prosecutors can lead to foolproof mechanism for establishing the case during trial. He said joint efforts should be made to fix the loopholes in investigation and prosecution stages so that criminals are not acquitted due to weak investigations.The Minister stressed on the DIGs of various zones to hold regular meetings with the investigation wing and prosecution wings of the Government in their respective areas of jurisdiction to ensure proper follow up of the pending criminal cases.The meeting also discussed the steps taken by the Home Department for vacating stay in cases where investigation or prosecution of challan has been stayed besides reviewing the latest status of filing of criminal appeals before the High Court.Regarding NDPS cases, the minister was informed that detailed circular instructions have been issued for framing guidelines for investigation of cases under NDPS Act and directions have been passed for strict adherence of circular instructions. Minister was informed that wherever there is a fault in investigation, necessary action has been taken against the officials.Minister said that he will soon hold separate range wise meetings to review the progress of criminal cases in these respective ranges and directed the Public Prosecutors, Additional Public Prosecutors to keep close liaison with the District Police and superiors so that criminal cases are properly monitored and contested in every district. He said in future the promotions of prosecution wing of the Police Department shall be based on their performance and any lapse will be reflected in their APRs. With regard to the dearth of staff in Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), the minister directed that all vacant posts shall be referred to the concerned recruiting agencies immediately and for the time being PHQ may send employees who possess technical qualification on contractual basis to the FSL as a short term measure to cope up the situation. He called for upgrading the Forensic Science Laboratory and asked the Director FSL to make relevant recommendations to Home Department for its up-gradation.