LAHORE: The Punjab police have directed all the regional and district police officers to complete audit of their offices and submit reports to the Central Police Office (CPO) by November 10, 2020.

This direction was passed by the Punjab IGP while presiding over a meeting on the issue of "punishment and reward for the force" at the CPO on Tuesday. He said all the RPOs and DPOs should complete audit of their offices and also inform the Additional IG Establishment about the latest status of appeals filed by the officials, show-cause notices issued to them and decisions taken by their seniors.

The Additional IG Establishment will obtain certificates (NOCs) from the RPOs and DPOs, he said, adding that the RPOs and the DPOs will too obtain NOCs from their subordinates regarding the actual number of appeals filed by them and the latest status of the show cause. The IG directed the Additional IG Operations to upgrade the feature in the Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) with the help of DIG IT which must have timely updated record of appeals of all officers and decisions taken on them.

Furthermore, the Appellant Authority should ensure that all the appeals filed by the officers are decided in a stipulated timeframe and explanatory letters should be written to the officers who are delaying the appeals of the cops, he said.

In case of unsatisfactory response, the IG added, departmental action should not be avoided against them. The process of punishment and reward is of paramount importance in the police service. Therefore, all command officers should ensure a transparent, merit-based process of punishment and reward that is free from any haste, he stressed.

The IG suggested that a regular inquiry into the matter should be made mandatory before a subordinate is given major punishment so that the punishment given on conviction and guilt cannot be removed from another platform and he can never be part of the force again.

He observed that large penalties for minor errors and irregularities could lead to the low morale of the force, therefore, the disciplinary matrix formulated by the CPO should be taken into consideration while giving punishments and officers who award major punishment to subordinates without the regular inquiry should be made answerable.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020