SHC orders forming investigation wings in all Sindh districts

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday ordered that following the guidelines set by the Supreme Court, the provincial police department should form investigation wings in Sukkur, Larkana and other districts of the province due to the high rate of crime, including heinous incidents.

The direction came on a petition in a freewill marriage case. The court had earlier told the province’s home secretary and police chief to explain the different investigation mechanisms in Karachi and other parts of the province.

The court observed that investigation wings are working in Karachi but such a mechanism is not being followed in other districts, and that the Sindh Police Act, 2019, requires the creation of investigation SSP posts in all districts.

The court was informed that the Sindh police had sent a proposal to the home department for creating 37 SSP posts, including 24 for investigation, but the department returned the proposal requesting a more comprehensive plan to use the existing resources.

The court was also informed that the Sindh police has been working on creating a separate investigation wing, rather than a cadre, in terms of the SC’s judgment in the Gul Hasan Jatoi case.

The provincial law officer said a committee had proposed a plan for this in 2021, and the proposal was sent to the home department, adding that the proposal was still being considered when the court ordered the police to implement investigation units in Sindh.

The court was informed that as temporary measures, 25 to 30 DSPs were posted as district investigation police officers, and that the police department was committed to implement a unified investigation system across Sindh but awaiting the necessary approvals from the provincial government.

The law officer admitted that past standing orders issued by the police chief had not been approved by the government, so they have no legal force and had been set at naught by the SC.

An SHC division bench headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar observed that the Sindh police are a unified force under the provincial government that was led by the IG, and that the force includes other units like training, special operations, investigations and district police.

The court said that all the officers can be assigned to duties anywhere in the province. The court ordered that firstly, investigation wings should be formed in other districts, preferably in Sukkur and Larkana.

The court directed the chief secretary, the home secretary and the IG to submit compliance reports for further orders on the next date of hearing.

Regarding the show-cause notice issued to the Korangi investigation SP for withholding the investigation file despite the case being disposed of under C class after the abductee’s statement against the FIR’s version, the officer said the case was disposed of under C class on October 16, and the petitioners’ grievance was redressed in terms of the judicial magistrate’s order.