Is suo moto the only answer?

Each Pakistani whether male or female and or living in Pakistan or overseas not only is very happy but too much thankful to CJP Iftikhar for taking his initiative in taking cognizance of killing of Shahzeb Khan of Karachi and thereby the alleged killers who were not being arrested by police whatsoever had to be arrested forthwith simply because CJP was too loud to pronounce that if the killers are not arrested then IGP will be taken to task to face very serious consequences which could even lead to his termination or demotion.

I need not go into the case details as it is not known to each one of us but my concern is very simple as to why CJP had to intervene in the first instance when it is quite but natural that as and when any crime is committed even a minor forget about as serious as murder then the police is ought to nab the accused so from that point of view what prevented police to go after the killers of Shenbaz who was gunned down in Karachi on 25^th December, 2012? Who had been influencing Karachi police either directly or indirectly to keep silent on the murder and let it die out as had been the case with hundreds who had been killed in the same city during the preceding year of 2012? What could be the personal interest of the police officers to hide the crime and instead give complete protection to the alleged killers of the cold blood killing? Why our media had to jump into it?

Interestingly in this case after the intervention of SC, police officers had no option but to come into action to lay their hands on all those who had been directly or indirectly involved in the murder. Police who had been at least dormant and slack if not silent formed some investigation teams to raid different spots within Karachi, Hyderabad and Moro. Many houses, offices, stores and fields were raided by police investigating teams and as a result one of the prime killers named Nawab Siraj Talpur was eventually hauled up from interior of Sindh along with those who shared with him on this gruesome killing. The three persons so arrested have been brought to Karachi and produced before the court which has handed them over them to the police on physical remand. Some days had already passed but the police could not even find the car which was used in the crime but ever since SC had issued stern warning against the police, the said car too has been found and impounded. The second prime killer Shahrukh Jatoi has fled away from Pakistan and landed in UAE but Pakistan police had been saying all along that Shahrukh is within the country and he has not exited from any point so the question of his running away from Pakistan does not even arise which is nothing but blatant lie as DIG and SSP sent from Karachi to Dubai duly assisted by the local authorities have apprehended Shahrukh in UAE and now the arrangements are being finalized to bring him back to Karachi.

The more one thinks the more he or she is amazed and literally fails to understand as to where are we heading to and where we will eventually end up if continue walking on the same path as of today. I can say with full confidence and conviction without least doubt that our superior courts whether high or supreme though had always been vested with suo moto authority from day one but it had been very rarely exercised in our past judicial history spanning over many long years but regretfully the situation has so drastically changed that now one way or the other very often the authority of suo moto is being invoked. Who is responsible for such state of affairs and what will happen if this right is not exercised by our superior courts at all? I think the real answer to the problem is not that of suo moto but the strict compliance of the rules if the policy that as and when a crime is committed the police must automatically come into action to catch those who are believed to be involved in the crime. What amazes and perplexes me the most which is truly unbelievable also is that police must act on its own instead of waiting for warnings from superior courts to be in action otherwise this responsibility be snatched away from police and given to some other law enforcing agency which can give full guarantees that each and every crime will not be ignored instead the offenders will be brought to books at the earliest possible and people must totally rely on them that their interests will be protected and not ignored.

Honestly speaking such like surgical actions like suo moto on the part of SC or HC is not the real answer to be honest and instead SC or HC interfering in police activities, I wish that SC or HC must devise some policy wherein the concerned police station in whose territory a crime is committed must be held accountable to answer the court if no action is taken by them within 12 hours or 24 hours at maximum from the occurrence of the crime. This I believe will be a constant threat and deterrent to the police which then either act judiciously and expeditiously or face punitive actions against them. Who opposes me?

Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait /