Pledges: CM attends oath-taking ceremony of KBA

Shah said new ATCs were being established and for that more judges will be needed

KARACHI: Lawyers should also be given the opportunity to preside over anti-terrorism courts (ATCs), rather than appointing retired judges, said Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah while speaking at the Karachi Bar Association's (KBA) oath-taking ceremony at City courts on Wednesday.

The KBA had elected its 69th body for 2016 in December. Shah said that 10 new ATCs were being established in the province and for that more judges will be needed to preside over them. "Earlier, it was the discretion of the provincial authorities to appoint judges," he said, adding, "Now the superior judiciary [Chief Justice of the province's top court] has this power. The chief minister only sings the proposal." He asserted that he and his party respected courts and played a role in the movement for restoration of judiciary.

The chief minister took oath from the new body of the KBA and announced a grant of Rs10 million for the association. Shah also said that compensation for the lawyers killed in terrorist activities has been raised to Rs2 million.

Shah believes that the root cause for corruption was derailment of democracy. The country since its inception had been more under dictatorship, he said adding that it was the first time that democratic governments are ruling uninterrupted for the past eight years.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th,  2016.