Corruption in Pakistan Police

Corruption in Pakistan Police

Corruption is like a slow poison which is killing the soul of our society slowly but surely. It is the scourge which is destroying the very fabric of our society. It is spread and settled in our society in such a manner that it is acceptable for everyone and even the one who refuses to earn money through corruption is considered as fool by majority of people. Although there is rampant corruption in almost all departments and all sphere of lives in Pakistan yet corruption in Pakistan Police has no parallels. According to surveys and reports of international organization and NGO’s Police is the most corrupt institution of Pakistan.

The situation is so deplorable that an honest police officer cannot survive in the department. To look deeper into the problem we have to discuss corruption in Pakistan Police under two heads. First there is Officer Cadre in Police (Officer with rank of DSP or above) and secondly there is official Cadre in Police (Police Officer with rank of Inspector, Sub Inspector, Assistant Sub Inspector and constables). The methods and moods of corruption are different for both classes of Police Officers.

Corruption in Officer Cadre of Police

When I am talking about Police High ups I mean police officer with rank of DSP (Deputy Superintendence of Police) or above. The corruption is officer Cadre of Police is different from that of corruption in lower Cadre. The most effective way of corruption in this class is through funds embezzlement by Police Officers. Govt. is spending billions of rupees for the betterment of Police ever year but those funds rarely reach below and most of them are wasted due to corruption of higher rank Police Officers.

In this regard one particular example can be given. For every investigation which is conducted by ASI, SI or Inspector Govt. provides a particular amount of fund. The purpose of this fund is that Investigating Officer (IO) can spend that money during the course of investigation but unfortunately rarely any IO in Pakistan ever receives that fund. In documents that fund is utilized according to law but in practice it is always go into the pockets of corrupt Police Officers.

Similarly all other sort of funds for Police Station like fund for maintenance of vehicles, vehicle petrol, stationary etc. never reach at the bottom and embezzled at the higher level.

This sort of corruption at higher level also is the source cause of corruption at lower level. When no funds reach at Police Station level, then IO’s and police officers of lower grade are forced to meet their expenditures through corruption. For example in case of vehicle maintenance funds, SHO are usually directed by the Police High Ups to upgrade all police vehicles without providing any funds to them. In return, SHO’s direct their IO’s provide money for that purpose and IO’s has no other way then to extract that money from the litigants or ordinary people with different excuses. In this way, the corruption at higher level which is less visible breeds more corruption at lower level of Police.

Corruption in Police at low level

This corruption involves the lower rank police officers like SHO, SI, ASI and constables. It is the face of corruption with which people are aware off because it is open and it directly affects the people. In every case registered in Police Station there is particular price which complainant has to pay to SHO. The price is different for different type of offence i.e. for more severe offences the bribe money is much higher than for petty offences.

After registration of case, there comes a stage of investigation and it is time for Investigation Officer (IO) to milk both complainant and accused. If complainant wants to get arrested his accused persons, he is not only responsible to provide information about accused but also has to give bribe to IO. He has to incur all the expenses like petrol of police vehicle, food of police officers and all other related expenses. Now here if accused offer more money to IO than complainant can do nothing.

The above mentioned is the only one face of corruption in police at lower level. There are many more methods and ways through which police extract money from the people or from the criminals. Organized criminals like owners of Brothel Houses, Drug dealers, wine suppliers etc. regularly pay the monthly tribute to the concerned SHO which is another source of permanent income for police. From this monthly income certain amount goes up to the higher police officers accordingly. Overall there are many techniques and methods used by the Police for corruption.

Author: Our Guest Writer

Jibran Jamshed

Assistant Professor

Department of Law

Islamia University of Bahawalpur

jibran_jamshed@yahoo.com