ISLAMABAD: Cases registered under the ambitious anti-terror law, the Protection of Pakistan Act (PoPA), have been shifted to the anti-terrorism courts (ATCs) and there is no sign that they will be concluded soon.

After the lapse of PoPA in July this year, the proceedings of these cases, which had not moved very rapidly, to begin with, came to a halt as the tenure of the PoPA judges also expired with the act.

PoPA was promulgated in July 2014 with a sunset clause that the law will expire after two years with the aim of countering terrorism by improving the conviction rate of hardcore terrorist suspects. In addition, it was also supposed to cover some gaps in the judicial system such as protection of witnessed and judges in terrorism cases.

Since their establishment in 2014 for two years, PoPA courts did not conclude a single case

Because the act was seen to be in violation of fundamental rights, it was passed with a sunset clause.

Ignored and overshadowed

Despite this, PoPA was implemented in a slow and patchy manner.

And in December the same year, after the terrorist attack on the Army Public School (APS) Peshawar, the government allowed the formation of military courts which overshadowed PoPA.

Most of the offences and provisions added to the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) through the 21st amendment were identical to those under PoPA. As a result, PoPA was used to register very few cases.

Ironically, even these few cases could not be decided in the special courts of PoPA in two years; by the time PoPA lapsed, its courts had not decided a single case.

And once the law lapsed, the cases had to be transferred elsewhere.

A few weeks after the expiry of PoPA, the accused as well as the PoPA judges wrote to their respective high courts regarding the fate of the pending cases.

A majority of PoPA cases were registered with the counterterrorism department (CTD) which was established in the police in the four provinces.

“There were over 50 PoPA cases in ATCs of Punjab pending before the special courts when the law expired,” said a senior official of the Punjab government.

He said there were expectations that the law may be given a new lease of life but neither the federal government nor the opposition parties were keen on the idea.

Lack of facilities

This is not surprising because the implementation of PoPA was carried out halfheartedly due to a lack of will. This was more than evident.

For example, a few days after PoPA lapsed, judge Raza Khan wrote to the Lahore High Court (LHC) arguing that PoPA was more an act of showing off than a serious attempt to countering terrorism.

The PoPA judge in the letter dated July 13, 2016, added: “There was no place of sitting or any infrastructure or judicial staff of the court when he assumed the office in September 2015.”

From PoPA to ATCs

Taking up the petition of the PoPA judges and accused, the LHC chief justice transferred the cases to the ATCs of the relevant jurisdiction.

In Rawalpindi, the PoPA judge was hearing seven cases which were transferred to the ATCs of Sargodha (three) and Faislabad (four).

Four PoPA cases are still pending with two ATCs of Rawalpindi. These include two cases related to the murder of Punjab home minister Shuja Khanzada and the rest are about the incidents of target killing.

The PoPA cases have now entered the queue along with the various cases being heard by the ATCs for years.

The ATCs, which too were formed to hear cases within a specified period of time, now move at a snail’s pace, as do the other courts.

Despite all the debate over the need to improve the judicial system and promises by successive governments, little has been done to address the problems.

The prosecution dealing with these high-profile cases is not only working under threat but also lacks basic facilities.

The judicial officers are poorly paid and badly treated. For example, a petition filed in the LHC by an ATC prosecutor Syed Tahir Kazmi disclosed that “There are continuous threats to my life as well as to my family.”

He said he was unable “to perform his duty efficiently and diligently due to the threats.”

The prosecutor said he was living in a private hostel in Rawalpindi as he had not been provided accommodation. His petition is pending before the LHC and will be taken up on December 22.

Legal experts are of the view that unless the prosecution and the judiciary are not given special incentives and provided extraordinary security, they cannot deal with high-profile terrorism cases effectively.

When asked for a response on the issue, the prosecutor general Punjab, Ehtisham Qadir, did not respond.

A deputy prosecutor general of the Punjab government, Khurram Khan, said after the abolition of PoPA courts the cases registered under the law had been transferred to ATCs where competent prosecutors were handling them. He said the ATCs would decide the cases on merit.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2016