The several horrific high-profile cases of crime this year, including the heinous violent mob attack against Sri Lankan citizen Priyantha Kumara, have brought to light the need to revamp the country’s justice system. It is a matter of shame that the police personnel in Sialkot were either bystanders, or arrived too late, before eventually arresting members of the mob. The problem is however much more deep-seated than that—the judicial system, conviction, responders, and indeed the deterrence system needs a revamp.
Critics identify the trend that it is only the high-profile cases that see even the semblance of a trial and accountability. However, it is unfortunate to note that even in those high-profile cases, the accountability process is so slow, delayed and full of loopholes that convictions and sentences take years to be passed.
The Noor Mukaddam case, an incident that led to international and national outrage, has been plagued with the curse of adjournments and delays, with the case, which appears open and shut, still not moving past the evidence stage. The accused persons in the Minar-e-Pakistan incident, in four months, have only yet been sent on judicial remand for an identification parade in all this time, exploiting the loophole that the law of evidence in Pakistan depends mostly on ocular evidence instead of forensic or circumstantial evidence.
Many attempts had been made by the previous Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to clear out the backlog of cases. However, this attempt also saw many more acquittals rather than convictions, and as this year showed us, the delaying tactics and loopholes, including adjournments and extensions, still exist. It is beyond time parliamentarians and judges work together to fix this—otherwise, the next year will continue the rise in crime we witnessed this year.
