LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has observed that the station diary is retained at a police station to keep check on the police officials as any wrong entry in the diary entails the dismissal of a police officer from service and ordered to maintain the diary in every police station without further delay under the rules.
The court said zero tolerance should be shown by the supervisory officers in this regard and in case of failure on the part of the supervisory officer to do the needful, he shall be accountable for the same.
The court passed this order in a petition of Jamila Bibi who approached the court for recovery of her relatives Shahbaz Ali, Asim, and Tahir Imran from Baghbanpura police station, Lahore.
The counsel of the petitioner did not press the petition as the arrest of Shahbaz Ali was regulated under the relevant law and he wanted to avail the remedy before the appropriate forum.
The court, however, disposed of the petition and referred the matter of the detenues Asim and Tahir to the concerned Superintendent of Police (SP) as they were not required in any criminal case.
The court directed the office to send a copy of the judgment to the Inspector General of Police for onward circulation to all the police stations in the Punjab for information and strict compliance.
The court also directed all the district and sessions judges to call and inspect the station diaries of police stations in their district occasionally to ensure that those are maintained following the law in its letter and spirit.
The court said this process should be exercised regularly to keep a check on the proper maintenance of the station diary.
The court also directed to prepare the computerized record of the station diary of the all police stations in addition to the manual record. In case of any conflict between the two, the preference shall be given to the manual station diary, the court added.
The court observed that maintenance of the station diary goes a long way to provide a mechanism against illegal arrest and detention as ensured under the Constitution. Any violation of law during the arrest and detention of a person would breach the constitutional guarantees and would lead to grave legal consequences, the court added.
The court said wrong entries in the station diary should be scored out by means of a single line and initialed by a senior police officer and in no case any such wrong entry be mutilated or rendered illegal nor should paper be pasted over it, the court added.
The court said, to maintain the station diary, properly printed books containing the proper number of pages should be issued to every police station by the concerned SP. Only duly issued books shall be used for maintaining the station diary to rule out the possibility of any fabrication and alteration in the same, the court concluded.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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