IT is common in some police reports submitted to the courts that the name of the submitting station house officer (SHO) is omitted and they only bear signatures sometime with only the stamp of the police station. There are occasions when even regular forms are not used.

This seems to be somewhat contradictory to the norms in professions where source of work or person issuing the order is of utmost importance in meaningful supervision and reward for good work and name.

Even more enigmatic is the insistence of some judges and justices that the names of the judges or justices whose orders have been appealed against should not bear the name of the individual(s) in the respective appeals, simply stating the post, like ASJ (X), civil judge (IX), etc.

In the interest of promoting accountability and public knowledge of the quality of work delivered by government employees, such traditions in police and judiciary need to be done away with through some act of legislation or judicial reforms. Earlier done, the better.

M. Shaikh
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2022