Hijratullah, a man accused of being part of a terrorist attack on the Police Training School in Manawan, Lahore in 2009, which killed 22 police officers and cadets and injured over 100 others, was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in October 2009 on the charge of possession of lethal weapons with which he was captured. After several delays, the Punjab government’s appeal to extend his sentence on charges under Section seven of the Anti-Terrorism Act was rejected by the ATC recently on the grounds of insufficient evidence to bring terrorism charges. The main evidence that the prosecution presented was that Hijratullah was found at the scene of the crime with a grenade and dagger in his possession. Hijratullah, who has confessed to being an operative of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), will finish his prison term by 2019, if he is not granted early release. If the accused is indeed a terrorist associated with the TTP, his release could mean that he could resume his terrorist activities. The courts need to take cases of suspected terrorism seriously and not be so quick to dismiss charges or release such dangerous characters. However, the failure of this case also reflects the inability of the prosecution to build a convincing argument and gather enough evidence to incriminate the accused.Considering the current law and order situation in Pakistan, and particularly the uphill battle that the government, law enforcement and military are facing against the terrorists, there has to be a cohesive system in place to prosecute terrorists and keep them off the streets — a task that our existing justice system does not seem equipped to accomplish. The entire justice system, from the police to the courts, needs to be reviewed, strengthened and made more efficient, with proper checks and balances to ensure justice. After the 21st Amendment was passed, military courts to try civilian terrorist suspects set up and the moratorium on the death penalty lifted for terrorists, it was eventually applied to all those convicted of capital crimes, many of whom may have been falsely accused, incarcerated because of forced confessions or in some cases are juvenile offenders. It is ironic that the measures taken to apprehend and imprison terrorists have not only failed to keep terrorists off the streets, but have instead led to the executions of people who may have been innocent or denied due process. While the steps taken by the government in the wake of the Army Public School attack to combat terrorism were appreciable in spirit, these measures need to be urgently and efficiently put into practice to ensure the peace and stability of Pakistan. *