The Police Rules, 1975

(With Amendments-2014)

Contents

1.                  Short title, commencement and application

2.                  Definitions

3.                  Grounds of punishment

4.                  Punishments

4.A      -

5.                  Punishment proceeding

6.                  ngs

7.                  Procedure of Departmental Inquiry

8.                  Powers of Inquiry Officer

9.                  Rules 5 and 6 not to apply in certain cases

10.              Procedure of Inquiry against Officers lent to other Government or authority

11.              -

12.              Appeal

12                Revision (11-A)

13                -

14                Repeal

Police Rules, 1975

[Gazette of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Extraordinary, 27^th January 1976]

No. SOS-III(S&GAD) 1-80/73-K ---.In exercise of the powers conferred under section 7 of Police Act 1861, the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is pleased to make the following Rules, namely:-

1.                  Short title, commencement and application:-

(1)               These rules may be called the Police Rules, 1975.

(ii)               They shall come into force at once and shall apply to all Police Officers of and below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police.

2.                  Definitions:-

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires:-

(i)           'Accused' means a Police Officer against whom action is taken under these rules;

(ii)         'Authority' means authority competent to award punishment as per Schedule

(iii)       'Misconduct' means conduct prejudicial to good order of discipline in the Police Force, or contrary to Government Servants (Conduct) Rules or unbecoming of a Police Officer and a gentleman, any commission or omission which violates any of the provisions of law and rules regulating the function and duty of Police Officer to bring or attempt to bring political or other outside influence directly or indirectly to bear on the Government or any Government Officer in respect of any matter relating to the appointment, promotion, transfer, punishment, retirement or other conditions of service of a Police Officer.

(iv)       'Punishment' means a punishment which may be imposed under these rules by authority as indicated in Schedule I.

3.                    Grounds of punishment.-

Where a Police Officer, in the opinion of the authority-

a)            Is inefficient or has ceased to be efficient: or

b)           Is guilty of misconduct; or

c)            Is corrupt or may reasonably be considered corrupt because-

(i)           He is or any of his dependents or any other person through him or on his behalf is, in possession (for which he cannot reasonably account) of pecuniary resources of property disproportionate to his known sources of income; or

(ii)         He has assumed a style of living beyond his ostensible means; or

(iii)       He has a persistent reputation of being corrupt; or

(d)         Is engaged Or is reasonably suspected of being engaged in subversive activities, or is reasonably suspected of being associated with others engaged in subversive activities or is guilty of disclosure of official secrets to any unauthorized person, and his retention in service is, therefore, prejudicial to national security, the authority may impose on him one or more punishments.

4.                  Punishments.-

1. The following are the minor and major punishments, namely:---

(a)   Minor punishments-

(i)                             Confinement of Constables and Head Constables for 15 days to Quarter Guards;

(ii)                             Censure;

(iii)                         Forfeiture of approved service up to 2 years;

(iv)                         With holding of promotion up to one year;

(v)                             Stoppage  of  increment  for  a  period  not  exceeding  3  years  with  or  without

cumulative effect;

v

(iv)                            Fine up to Rs15000/- as per schedule-I.

(b)     Major punishments-

(i)                             Reduction in rank/pay;

(ii)                           Compulsory retirement;

(iii)                         Removal from service; and

(iv)                         Dismissal from service.

2.                              (a)        Removal from service does not but dismissal from service does, disqualify for future employment.

(b)        Reversion from an officiating rank is not a punishment.

^v   Amended vide Notification No: 3859/Legal, dated 27/08/2014 issued by IGP, KPK

3.                              In this rule, removal or dismissal from service does not include the discharge of a person.

(a)                            Appointed on probation, during the period of' probation, or in accordance with the probation or training rules applicable to him; or

(b)                           Appointed, otherwise than under a contract, to hold a temporary appointment on the expiration of the period of appointment; or

(c)                            Engaged under a contract, in accordance with the terms of the contract.

4-A.

In case a Police Officer is accused of subversion, corruption or misconduct the Competent Authority may require him to proceed on leave or suspend him.

5.         Punishment proceedings.-

The punishment proceedings will be of two kinds. i.e. (a) Summary Police Proceedings and

(b)        General Police Proceedings and the following procedure shall be observed when a Police Officer is proceeded against under these rules:---

(1)                           When information of misconduct or any act of omission or commission on the part of a Police Officer liable for punishment provided in these rules is received' by the authority, the authority, shall examine the information and may conduct or cause to be conducted quick brief inquiry if necessary, for proper evaluation of the information and shall decide whether the misconduct or the act of omission or commission referred to above should be dealt with in a Police Summary Proceedings in the Orderly Room or General Police Proceedings.

(2)                           In case the authority decides that the misconduct is to be dealt with in Police Summary Proceedings, he shall proceed as under-

(i)                 The accused officer liable to be dealt with in the Police Summary Proceedings shall be brought before the authority in an Orderly room.

(ii)               He shall be apprised by the authority orally the nature of the alleged misconduct, etc. The substance of his explanation for the same shall be recorded and if the same is found unsatisfactory, he will be awarded one of the minor punishments mentioned in these rules.

(iii)             The authority conducting the Police Summary Proceedings may, if deemed necessary, adjourn them for a maximum period of 7 days to procure additional information.

(3)                           If the authority decides that the misconduct or act of omission or commission referred to above should be dealt with in General Police Proceedings he shall proceed as under-

a)                  The authority shall determine if in the light of facts of the case or in the interests of justice, a departmental inquiry, through an Inquiry Officer if necessary. If he decides that is not necessary; he shall-

b)                 By order in writing inform the accused of the action proposed to be taken in regard to him and the grounds of the action: and

c)                  Give him a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against that action: Provided that no such opportunity shall be given where the authority is satisfied that in the interest of security of Pakistan or any part thereof it is not expedient to give such opportunity.

(4)                                 If the authority decides that it is necessary to have departmental inquiry conducted, through an Inquiry Officer, he shall appoint for this purpose an Inquiry Officer, who is senior in rank to the accused.

(5)                               On receipt of the findings of the Inquiry Officer or where no such officer is appointed, on receipt of the explanation of the accused, if any, the authority shall determine whether the charge has been proved or not. In case the charge is proved the authority shall award one or more of major or minor punishments as deemed necessary.

6.                  Procedure of Departmental Inquiry:-

i.   Where an Inquiry Officer is appointed the authority shall-

a.             Frame a charge and communicate it to the accused together with statement of the allegations explaining the charge and of any other relevant circumstances which are proposed to be taken into consideration;

b.            Require the accused within 7 days from the day the charge has been communicated to him to put in a written defence and to state at the same time whether he desires to be heard in person;

ii.             The Inquiry Officer shall inquire into the charge and may examine such oral or documentary evidence in support of the charge or in defence of the accused as may be considered necessary and the witnesses against him.

iii.             The Inquiry Officer shall hear the case from day to day and no adjournment shall be given except for reasons to be recorded in writing and where any adjournment is given,

a.             It shall not be more than a week; and

b.            The reasons therefore shall be reported forthwith to the authority.

iv.            Where the Inquiry Officer is satisfied that the accused is hampering, or attempting to hamper the progress of the inquiry he shall administer a warning and if thereafter he is satisfied that the accused is acting in disregard of the warning, he shall record a finding to that effect and proceed to complete the departmental inquiry ex parte.

v.            The Inquiry Officer shall within 10 days of the conclusion of the proceedings or such longer period as may be allowed by the authority, submit his findings and grounds thereof to the authority.

7.                  Powers of Inquiry Officer:-

1)      For the purpose of departmental inquiry under these rules, the Inquiry Officer shall have the powers of a Civil Court trying a suit under Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act V of 1908) in respect of the following matters, namely:---

(a)               Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;

(b)               Requiring the discovery and production of documents;

(c)                Receiving evidence on affidavits;

(d)               Issuing commission for the examination of witnesses or documents.

2)      The proceedings under these rules shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860).

8.                  Rules 5 and 6 not to apply in certain cases.-Nothing in rules 5 and 6 shall apply in a case-

(a)   where the accused is dismissed or removed from service or reduced in rank, on the ground of conduct which has led to a sentence of imprisonment; or

(b)   where the authority competent to dismiss or remove a person from service, or to reduce a person in rank, is satisfied that for reasons to be recorded in writing by that authority, it is not reasonably practicable to give the accused an opportunity of showing cause.

9.                  Procedure of inquiry against officers lent to other Government or Authority.-

i.            Where the services of Police Officer to whom these rules apply are lent to any other Government or to a local or other authority, in this rule referred to as the borrowing authority, the borrowing authority shall have the powers of the authority for the purpose of placing him under suspension or requiring him to proceed on leave and of initiating proceedings against him under these rules.

ii.            Provided that the borrowing authority shall forthwith inform the authority which has lent his services, hereinafter in this rule referred to as the lending authority, of the circumstances leading to the order of his suspension or the commencement of the proceedings, as the case may be.

iii.            If in the light of the findings in the proceedings taken against the Police Officer in terms of sub-rule (1) the borrowing authority is of opinion that any punishment should be imposed on him, it shall transmit to the lending authority the record of the proceedings and thereupon the lending authority shall take action as prescribed in these rules.

10.              No party to any proceedings under the rules before the authority or Inquiry Officer shall be represented by an Advocate.

11.              Appeal.-

For rule 11, the following shall be substituted, namely:

^v  “11. Appeal.---(1) An accused, who has been awarded any penalty under these rules except the penalty of confinement of constable and head constable for fifteen days to

quarter guards, may, within thirty days from the date of communication of the order, prefer an appeal to the Appellate Authority as provided in sub-rule (2).

(2)               The appeal, against the orders of the officer, specified in Schedule-I,

who passes it shall lie to the Appellate Authority as may be specified in the table below:

Provided that where the order has been passed by the Provincial Police Officer, the delinquent officer/official, may within a period of thirty days submit review Petition directly to the Provincial Police Officer.

(3)                           There shall be only one appeal from the original order and the order of the Appellate Authority, in appeal, shall be final.

(4)                           The Appellate Authority or Review Authority, as the case may be, may call for the record of the case and comments on the points raised in the appeal or review, as the case may be, from the concerned officer, and on consideration of the appeal or the review petition, as the case may be, by an order in writing-

(a)                uphold the order of penalty and reject the appeal or review petition; or

(b)               set aside the orders and exonerate the accused; or

^v   Amended vide Notification No: 3859/Legal, dated 27/08/2014 issued by IGP, KPK

(c)                modify the orders and reduce or enhance the penalty; or

(d)               set aside the order of penalty and remand the case to the authority, where it is satisfied that the proceedings by the authority or the inquiry officer or inquiry committee, as the case may be, have not been conducted in accordance with the provisions of these rules, or the facts and merits of the case have been ignored, with the directions to either hold a de novo inquiry or to rectify the procedural lapses or irregularities in the proceedings:

Provided that where the Appellate Authority or Review Authority, as the case may be, proposes to enhance the penalty, it shall by an order in writing-

(a)                inform the accused of the action proposed to be taken against him and the grounds of such action; and

(b)               give him a reasonable opportunity to show cause against the action and afford him an opportunity of

personal hearing.

(5)               An appeal or review preferred under this rule, shall be made in the form of a petition, in writing, and shall set forth concisely the grounds of objection to the impugned order in a proper and temperate language”.

12.              After rule 11, the following new rule shall be inserted, namely:

^v  “11-A Revision”…… (1) The Inspector General, Additional Inspector General, a Deputy Inspector General of Police or a Senior Superintendant of Police may call for

the records of awards made by their subordinates and confirm, enhance, modify or annul the same, or make further investigation or direct such to be made before passing orders.

(2)               If an award of dismissal is annulled, the officer annulling it shall state whether it is to be regarded as suspension followed by re-instatement, or not. The order should also state whether service prior to dismissal should count for pension or not.

(3)               In all cases in which officers propose to enhance an award the officer shall, before passing final orders, give the defaulter concerned an opportunity of showing cause, either personally or in writing, why his punishment should not be enhanced.

(4)               The revision petition shall lie or taken cognizance by the authorities under sub rule-(1) within thirty days of the order passed on original appeal.

Provided that the Provincial Police Officer, while acting as revisional authority, in certain cases, may constitute a Revision Board for the speedy disposal of revision petitions, before passing any orders.” And