In Criminal Justice System (CJS), investigation is alpha and omega of police department. After the lodging of FIR by the police, the CJS starts its work. After lodging of FIR, the prime job of police is to conduct investigation. After investigation, report is prepared u/s 173 Cr.P.C and submitted before the Courts for the decision of cases through prosecutor concerned as described in the section 9 of The Punjab Criminal Prosecution Service (Constitution, Functions & Powers) Act, 2006. Although the result of investigation is not ipsi dixit on the Courts but Courts do consider it while providing justice to the victims, their families and the offenders too. Most of the cases fail in Courts due to defective investigation and Apex Courts of Pakistan have commented a lot regarding the poor quality of investigation. This research study will encompass the 1. Lacunae in police investigation, 2-Reasons for weak conviction, 3- Comparative study of a developed country of choice and developing country of South Asia, 4 -issues, 5- challenges faced during the course of investigation, and 6- way forward to overcome deficiencies. Investigation is the baseline of Police Job. The foremost duty of the Police Agency is to maintain law and order situation and then safety of life and property of the public. The methodology used is qualitative cum quantitative. Books & data were reviewed, interviews of fellow colleagues of different ranks were conducted, views were also ascertained by presenting a questionnaire, and of general public too. Whatever the shape of the lacunas is in the investigations, it brings bad name to the department as culprits are acquitted. It is creating resentment among the society and shaking confidence of citizenry, due to which, the public usually hesitate to approach police for recourse. This situation will lead to self-revenge resulting in anarchy in the society. This is not mere a hypothetical statement but based on actual scenarios happened in the Court Rooms in Punjab. This is a share of my contribution to the cause of public services and to uphold the rule of law in the society with a slogan that no wrong doer should be left unpunished. Not only being a Police Officer but as a common man, I believe provision of justice, the rule of law to be the basic inheritance of man on this earth enshrined in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 and in other laws prevalent in Pakistan. The paper is the end product of my own efforts, research and writing, its contents are not plagiarized. The paper reflects my own views based on a literature review, a questionnaire fulfilled by colleague officers, and data collected from different sources. This paper is submitted to the Faculty Police Training College, Sihala, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the 12th Junior Command Course. The philosophy in the paper is “Nothing matters but the facts. Without them, the science of criminal investigation is nothing more than a guess

1. Lacunae in police investigation, reasons for weak
convictions,
comparative study of a developed country of
choice and developing country of South Asia,
issues, challenges, & way forward
1
Presented by
Muhammad Waris Kalyar
12th JCC, Beret No 942
Police College Sihala
Rawalpindi

2. SEQUENCE
• Lacunae in police investigation
• Reasons for weak conviction
• Comparative study of a developed country of choice and
developing country of South Asia
• Issues
• Challenges
• Way forward
• Conclusion
2

3. LEARNING OUTCOME
• The participants will be able to understand regarding:
• Investigation,
• Reasons for weak conviction
• Lacunas found in investigation,
• Issues and challenges faced by the investigation officers, and
• Way forward
3

4. WHAT IS INVESTIGATION
• "Investigation": -
Investigation includes all the proceedings under this Code
for the collection of evidence conducted by a police officer
or by any person (other than a Magistrate) who is
authorized by a Magistrate in this behalf.
Section 4(l) Cr.PC, 1898
4

5. TYPES OF OFFENCE
• The Criminal Procedure Code ,1898 (Cr.P.C) categorizes:
• Cognizable:
• Cognizance without any order of the court (FIR)
• 2. Non-Cognizable:
• Cognizance after getting orders of the Court
5

6. WHEN DOES THE INVESTIGATION BEGIN
• The investigation usually begins with information relating to the
commission of an offence
• Cognizable offence
• Non-cognizable offence, with the permission of the magistrate
• Powers and procedures differ in both cases, but the ultimate goal
is to discover the truth
6

7. RELATING LAW TO INVESTIGATION
• Following are the basic laws related to Investigation.
• Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C), 1898
• Provides the procedure of
– Arrest (S.46), search (S.51) and circumstance in which a person can be
arrested (S. 54)
– Roadmap from registration of case under 154 to completion of investigation
173 of Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1898
7

8. Cont..
• Police Order, 2002
– Change of investigation section 18 and 18A
• Police Rules, 1934
– Corresponding to Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 and a detail to conduct
investigation is provided in Chapters 25 titled as Investigation
• Qanoon-e-Shahadat Order, 1984
– Art. 18 to 69 described what are admissible in evidence and what are not
admissible
8

9. IMPACT OF LACUNAS IN INVESTIGATION
9
“Accused is
favorite child
of the law”

10. REASONS OF ACQUITTAL
• Application/ call/ registration of case u/s 365 PPC
• Writ Petitions –before registration of FIR
• Contradiction in complaint and FIR.
• Time of occurrence- not or wrongly mentioned
• Contradictory position of prosecution witness (PW)
• Faulty site plan
10

11. Cont..
• Delay submission of articles in PFSA
• Non submission of recovered articles to PFSA
• Non collection of CCTV footage by I.O
• Accused not identified in identification parade
• Lack of independent evidence
11

12. 12
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
CASES REGISTERED BY CTD PUNJAB FROM 2015 TO 30 OCT 2022
(Hate Material/Speech, Fund Raising/Collection & ESA 1908)
Total Registered Total Challan Total Convicted Convicted Hate Material/speech Convicted Fund raising Convicted Explosives Substance Act, 1908

13. LACUNAE IN INVESTIGATION OF CTD
CASES.
Hate Material
• Non submission of recovered material to Mutahida Ulema Board -opinion
• Author neither associated in investigation nor arrested
• Non preparation & sealing of parcels
• Non association of private witness- who was preached
• Place of occurrence is bus stand- a noisy place
• Missing link between accused & offence
13

14. Fund Raising/ Financing Terrorism
• Serial numbers of currency notes not in recovery memo
• No transaction record between the accused and proscribed
organization/individual
• Non submission of recovered receipt books to PFSA -hand writing
• Recovery -non preparation & sealing of parcels at CS
• Missing link between accused & offence
14

15. Explosive material
• Non submission of recovered material to PFSA -opinion
• Author neither associated in investigation nor arrested
• Non preparation & sealing of parcels at CS
• Non association of private witness
• Missing link between accused & offence
• Opinion of complainant without expertise about recovered items
• Circuits, detonators, safety fuses and explosive
15

16. REASONS FOR WEAK CONVICTION
• Improper application of law.
• Role of witness.
• Delay or non submission of samples to PFSA.
• Poor coordination between investigator and prosecutor.
• Missing link between accused & offence
• Managerial Problems
• Poor Prosecution
16

17. COMPARISON OF CONVICTION RATIO
• 2021- England and Wales
82.3 % in Magisterial Courts
79.1 % in Crown Courts.
• India, as per the NCRB report
Overall conviction rate 57%.
17

18. COMPARISON OF CONVICTION RATIO
Jun 01, 2020 - Apr 30, 2021
• Magisterial and Sessions Courts
-Case 93,284
-Conviction ratio is 65.05%
• Anti Terrorism Courts
-Cases 317
-Conviction ratio 43.60%
• CTD, Punjab
65% overall since its establishment
79% for the year 2022.
18

19. ISSUES
• Deficiency of trained human capital
• Want of training facilities
• Scarcity of resources
• Three tier recruitment
• Career Progression
• Role of society
19

20. CHALLENGES
• Lack of confidence of general public
• Political intrusion
• Want of welfare facilities
• Protocol and security duties
20

21. WAY FORWARD
21
• Promotional structure
• Posting tenure of officers
• Free from political pressure or affiliation
• Legislative reforms
• Provision of Modern Training
• Provision of Modern Evidence collection kits
• Police-Prosecution cooperation

22. Questions and Answers
22
THANKS