Resources being provided to improve criminal justice system: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday said the criminal justice system was of fundamental importance and the backbone of governance, and work on this should be ensured on priority basis.

He observed this while presiding over a high-level meeting on reforms in the criminal justice system and implementation of the Civil Procedure Code in the provinces and Islamabad.

“If we look at the history of the nations of the world, only those nations have been able to develop which have brought a system of organised and strong justice to provide justice to the people. The previous governments have taken advantage of lawlessness by corrupting the system,” he noted.

The prime minister made it clear that the government would provide all required resources to fix the system on a priority basis, set goals in this regard and ensure their timely completion.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Law Farogh Naseem, Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan, Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Law Minister Sultan Muhammad Khan and concerned senior officials.

The prime minister was informed in the meeting that in order to formulate a comprehensive strategy for the reform process, separate task forces were formed by identifying 13 areas, the recommendations of which are ready to be implemented. These 13 areas include case registration, arrest and FIR system, modernisation and computerisation of police stations, direct transfer of funds to police stations and giving station in-charge the status of principal accounting officer, investigation system, strengthening, improving the challan system, establishing independent prosecution, reducing the pressure on the courts by prosecuting the prosecution according to the nature of the cases, simplifying and speeding up the trial process, computerising the court records, and strengthening the parole system.

Meanwhile, the prime minister also chaired the weekly meeting of the National Coordinating Committee for Housing, Construction and Development here.

The FBR chairman apprised the meeting of the tax incentive package, comparing the increase in registration in construction projects by FBR Portal and Builders and Developers and informed that construction activities across the country, especially in Punjab had witnessed significant increase.

Chairman New Pakistan Housing Authority Lieutenant General (R) Anwar Ali Haider briefed the Surveyor General of Pakistan on the performance in providing data in the field of digitisation of land records.

The provincial chief secretaries gave a detailed briefing on the steps taken to provide data of their respective provinces regarding digitisation of land records.

Imran Khan emphasised the importance of providing data in the context of digitisation of land records, and said that digitisation would lead to better planning in the construction sector and significant improvement in the suppression of occupation mafia.

Stressing on the importance of multi-storey construction and protection of green areas in the federal capital, Imran Khan directed that special care be taken for the protection of green areas in construction projects.

Imran Khan also chaired a review meeting on progress on Ravi Urban Development Project, Central Business District Project and relocation of Walton Airport.

The meeting was apprised of the progress in the proposed legislation on environmental protection in the Ravi City project. The meeting was also given a detailed briefing on the significant progress made in the performance of the three groups formed with regard to land purchase, land and zone development in the project.

Expressing satisfaction over the keen interest of prominent international investment companies in the Ravi City project and the significant progress made in terms of agreements, Imran Khan said that given the importance of this grand project, not only investment opportunities will be created but also people will have access to international standard housing facilities.

Meanwhile, Imran Khan said that administrative reforms should be implemented in a timely manner to provide relief to the people and legal action against corrupt elements should be ensured as there was no distinction between rich and poor in the welfare state.

The prime minister emphasised that reforms were not possible without strengthening the system of punishment and retribution. To this effect, he chaired a meeting on the Governance Action Matrix. Relevant federal and provincial officers attended the meeting.