The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday ordered the submission of details regarding more than 202,000 pending case challans across Punjab.
Chief Justice Aalia Neelum passed the orders during a hearing on a narcotics case involving accused Imran Ali.
Chief Justice Aalia Neelum expressed strong dissatisfaction with the delays in submitting challans to the courts. The CJ also summoned a detailed report on all cases that had been resolved through settlement agreements and ordered the implementation of a computerized system for case registration.
In her questioning of the Inspector General of Punjab Police, the Chief Justice highlighted the vast number of registered cases in the province, totaling 362,000. The CJ remarked that there is a need for transparency regarding the status of these cases and sought to identify the districts facing the most significant challenges.
On it, the IGP informed the court that approximately 11,800 investigating officers had received show-cause notices, with penalties being imposed on 11,000 occasions.
He also explained that extensive efforts had been made to trace and compile challans for 150,000 cases, noting a 46% increase in case registrations over the past 18 months.
The IG also informed the court about a significant rise in electricity theft cases, with 75,000 cases registered last year and 80,000 this year. The Punjab police chief submitted that the rate of challan submissions had dropped to zero in Lodhran, while Lahore and Faisalabad recorded 59,000 and 81,000 registered cases, respectively.
Chief Justice Aalia Neelum emphasized upon the importance of informing the relevant courts about the details of cases resolved through settlement agreements and pointed out the adverse effects of delayed challan submissions on the judicial process.
The IG submitted that each investigating officer handles an average of 160 cases annually.
The Chief Justice remarked that, given the volume of cases, it should not be challenging for investigating officers to submit challans regularly.
