LAHORE: Chief Minister`sSpecialAssistant Rana Maqbool Ahmad has claimed that the provincial prosecution department`s success rate in cases during 2016 is 93 percent so far.

A handout issued on Wednesday said the former IG while presiding over a meeting of senior public prosecutors from Lahore, Gujranwala, Kasur and Sheikhupura, claimed that out of total 37,280 contested cases, the department won 34,704, bringing the suspects involved to the book.

He said from Jan 1 to May 31, 418 accused were handed down death sentence, 459 life imprisonment, 140 imprisonment above seven years, while 15,509 others were handed down imprisonment below seven years by honourable courts.

The handout said high profile cases and performance of the prosecutiondepartment were discussed in the meeting.

Themeetingwasinformed that during the period under review, only 2,576 cases were solved on merit due to different reasons. The department`s performance is evaluated by considering the number of cases contested in the courts. The cases disposed off on compromise, resiling of witness and consigned to record are not considered contested cases.

Rana Maqbool Ahmad told the prosecutors that the latest gadgets were being provided to them, besides specialised training for enhancing their skills.

He said the prime minister had also lauded the improvement in the department`s performance.

He said the confidence of people in the judicial system and law-enforcement agencies had been strengthened through the convictions of criminals and terrorists.