PESHAWAR
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government announced the appointment of the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of merged districts as Justices of Peace. The decision was taken for the merged districts’ jurisdiction under section 22 of the Criminal Procedure Code, said a handout.
As per Home and Tribal Affairs department, the decision was taken in view of the problems faced by the public in adapting to the recently introduced police system, especially with regards to registration of FIR, attestation of documents and personal identification for legal purposes. The DCs empowered will also assist the police and courts in matters of arrests in cognizable offences.
The DCs will now be legally responsible for prevention of any breach of peace or disruption of public tranquility in the merged districts.
The district administration and police in merged districts have been directed to organize awareness sessions with the public and also hold Darbars of the police for its awareness and compliance.
However, police in the tribal district North Waziristan rejected the decision of the provincial government and decided to boycott duties.
They said that the provincial government decided to delegate magisterial power to DCs in the erstwhile Fata.
It is to note here that the provincial government in a cabinet meeting held on March 1, approved the appointment of DCs in tribal districts as the justices of peace to their respective districts in merged districts.
