PESHAWAR, April 21: Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan on Saturday asked the provincial government to drastically change the outdated probation and parole system and establish women police stations across the province to provide relief to vulnerable group of prisoners, which included women and children.

He also proposed formation of a team by the government to discuss with the high court how to bring these changes and how many new offences be included in the schedule of probation and parole law.

The CJ was addressing the concluding session of a workshop on ‘Sensitisation of Stakeholders about Probation Laws’ that was organised by the district judiciary in collaboration with the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) and regional Directorate of Human Rights.

The CJ suggested appointment of psychiatrists and psychologists to each region in the province for studying the mind of the accused on probation and suggesting ways and means to reform them so that they became useful part of the society.

“The government should consider that instead of interaction of an hour or two by probation officer with the accused on probation, a programme should be arranged in vocational and educational institutions where quotas should be allotted to them and they should be admitted there for a particular period in line with their academic standards. In this way, they could bring radical changes to the mindset of persons released on probation,” he said.

The CJ said women made almost 50 per cent of the population and were the most vulnerable segment. He said they had come across many cases wherein women stricken by poverty were frequently used by drug barons for transportation of narcotics.

The CJ regretted existence of only one women police station in the province and said that, too, was headed by a head constable. This, he said, was the most unfortunate aspect of the matter.

“The government, whether federal or provincial, under Article 35 of the Constitution and in view of the commitment given to the international community by signing the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, is bound to show respect to every woman whether she is accused of minor offence or serious crime.

“Her dignity is required to be preserved at all stages by all state functionaries, including police, prosecution and judges and therefore, I ask the government to immediately establish women police station throughout the province and even to establish a separate unit in Anti-Narcotics Force for interrogating women by making amendments to the law,” he said.

The CJ also asked the government not to hand over juvenile offenders to professional investigators, who carried out probe in conventional manner, and said a trained force should be formed to look into issues about what was background of particular child committing a crime and whether he or she was brought up by parents.

Earlier, Peshawar district and sessions judge Shehbar Khan presided over the first session moderated by senior civil judge Ziaur Rehman Khan.

The papers presented by speakers included “Probation and Juvenile Justice” by senior Supreme Court lawyer Anees Jillani, “Humanitarian Traits of Law” by district probation officer Mohammad Yousaf, “Effective Implementation of Probation Law” by additional district and sessions judge Asad Hameed Bangash, and “Utility of Probation Law in pre-trial Criminal Proceedings” by civil judge and judicial magistrate Mohammad Zafarullah Mohmand.