LAHORE - The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday recommended establishment of 18 new banking courts in the province due to the rising number of pending cases. Directorate of District Judiciary Director General Masood Arshad had written a letter to Federal Secretary Law and Justice for the purpose, in accordance with the directions of the LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti.
The letter stated that the number of pending cases was rising in banking courts across the province and the present number of the banking courts were not sufficient to dispose of the cases. “The establishment of more banking courts is necessary for speedy and qualitative justice,” it added.
The letter further stated that, as per available data of pending cases in banking courts, more than five hundred cases were pending in every banking court of 15 districts and nine divisional headquarters. The number of pending cases is in violation of the recommendations of the Law Reforms Committee 1974, it said, adding that it was mandatory to decide the pending case within nine months as per law. The letter stated that the chief justice recommended establishment of 18 new banking courts in various district headquarters while changing the present scheme of banking courts.
As per amended scheme, it has been recommended to reduce number of banking courts from seven to six in Lahore whereas establishment of one new banking court has been recommended in Kasur, Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahib, it added. Similarly, the establishment of two new courts has been recommended in districts of Faisalabad and Jhang due to large number of pending cases.
Moreover, the establishment of one new court had been recommended in TT Singh, Chiniot, Hafizabad, Sialkot, Multan, Khanewal, Lodhran, Vehari, Okara, Muzaffarabad, Bahawalpur, RY Khan and Bahwalnagar.