CJ points to dearth of judges

ISLAMABAD Since the enforcement of the National Judicial Policy, the judiciary, apex and lower put together, has decided a total of 4,965,731 cases, according a review undertaken at a two-day meeting of the National Judicial (Policy-Making) Committee (NJPMC) in the Supreme Court building under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. During the period in review, 4,572,690 new cases were instituted, showing that the disposal figure is 393,041 higher, which is a remarkable achievement. The meeting was attended by Federal Shariah Court Chief Justice (CJ) Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan, Balochistan High Court CJ Qazi Faez Isa, Peshawar High Court CJ Ejaz Afzal Khan, Lahore High Court CJ Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Sindh High Court CJ Mushir Alam, Islamabad High Court CJ Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman and registrars of the Supreme and High Courts. As per province-wise breakup, the LHC decided 41,618 old cases (cases filed up to December 31, 2008) and 145,295 new cases (filed on or after January 01, 2009). The BHC decided 1,507 old and 3,487 new cases, PHC 3,390 old and 22,412 new and SHC decided 4,385 old and 27,985 new cases. Though all the high courts remained under pressure due to the shortage of judges, they achieved a fairly high disposal figure by working hard and sitting beyond the normal working hours, according to the review. The CJP particularly stressed the scarcity of judges in his separate talk to the media. The performance of the district judiciary was also reviewed at the meeting. The statistics presented by the NJPMC secretary showed that the district courts in all the four provinces performed very well and a substantive number of old cases were decided. The district courts of Punjab decided total 3,611,473 cases, including 803,177 old ones while the district courts of Balochistan decided 71,614 cases, including 3953 old cases. The district judiciary of Balochistan in particular did very well. It is currently poised to decide any civil or criminal case within a period of 6 to 9 months from the date of filing of a suit or complaint. In the same way, the district courts of Sindh decided 423,959 cases, including 84,099 old cases. In Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, the district courts decided 580,884 cases, including 103,877old ones. The Chief Justice of Pakistan and members of the National Judicial (Policy-Making) Committee highly appreciated the hard work performed by the district judiciary and praised the judges for showing good results. They also appreciated the efforts of the members of the Bar for their cooperation and support to the courts in clearing the backlog and prompting the disposal of cases. The committee observed that the judicial policy has achieved the target of disposal of old and new cases and deficiency, if any, was on account of cogent reasons beyond the control of courts, which include shortage of judicial officers, non-submission of challans, non-production of prisoners and frequent adjournments. The committee has decided to extend the period of disposal of old cases up to September 30, 2011 and resolved that old cases will be decided by giving priority as per categorisation old, older and oldest. It further resolved that all cases instituted after January 01, 2009 should be decided by March 31, 2012. The CJP asked the chief justices of the high courts to monitor the performance of the district judiciary regarding disposal of old cases through Member Inspection Team (MIT). It was further decided that the courts should be asked to submit fortnightly reports regarding disposal of old cases. The CJP asked the judges to ensure that while deciding cases quality of judgments should not be compromised. The committee said that high courts have dismissed/removed a number of judges and court staff involved in corrupt practices. The removed/dismissed judicial officers include district and sessions judges, additional district and sessions judges and civil judges. The committee reiterated its commitment to showing zero tolerance for corruption and asked the high courts for strict actions against the persons who had a bad reputation or has assets beyond ostensible means of income. The chief justices of the high courts were requested to supervise the functioning of MITs for prompt action against the corrupt/inefficient judges/court staff. A committee was constituted comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal, Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman and Dr Faqir Hussain, Registrar Supreme Court of Pakistan, to review the performance of criminal district coordination committees and suggest measures for curbing corruption amongst the paralegal staff. The committee also reviewed the performance of special courts and administrative tribunals and observed that the performance of these courts is not up to the mark. The committee resolved that since the National Judicial Policy is also applicable to these courts, their performance should also be monitored by the respective high courts. The committee also resolved that a monthly meeting of registrars, MITs, home secretaries and directors (reclamation and probations) should be held to monitor and improve the performance of their respective institutions in the administration of justice. The committee took serious note of the pathetic state of prisons and observed that prisons are overcrowded and the living conditions are not conducive for reformation of convicts. The committee observed that there is a dire need of new jails having necessary facilities for reformation of convicts so that after release they could be reintegrated in society to play a positive role. The committee asked the federal government to expedite the process of construction of a jail for Islamabad.