ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed said due to faulty, defective investigation and improper or insufficient evidence 90 percent criminals are acquitted.

A delegation of under-training Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs), currently undergoing training at the Federal Judicial Academy, Islamabad under “Professional Exchange Programme” met with the chief justice at the Supreme Court building, here on Thursday.

Justice Ahmad gave them an overview of the criminal justice system in Pakistan. Deliberating upon the role of police in the criminal justice system, he said the police are an important pillar of the criminal justice system.

The responsibility of investigation lies with the police but unfortunately around 90 percent of criminals are acquitted on account of faulty, defective investigation and improper or insufficient evidence.

The quality of evidence matters in an investigation.

He further told the participants that in the judgment authored by his lordship in Criminal Petition No 419/2020 titled as “Sadam Hussain Vs, The State through AG Islamabad and another” on 12.05.2020, it was held that “Investigation of crime is specialized subject in which the investigation officers are required to be fully trained and equipped and in this regard police training center should services of qualified professionals for imparting professional training to the investigation officers. A handbook of the crime investigation, based upon previous experiences, illustrations, practical applications and case law developed by the superior courts of Pakistan should be prepared immediately with knowledge of using investigation kits and preparing a computerized data of the crime”.

He expected from the trainee officers to apply their mind in investigation of cases rather than applying a mechanical approach.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021