Systemic hiccups continue to plague judicial system

ISLAMABAD: The dilemma of “abnormal delays” in the judicial system of Pakistan is not a new phenomenon, but to put the brunt of the blame on the courts would be unjust as several other factors continuously contribute to it, and simultaneously postpone the process of ratification.

Delays sometimes lead to deaths, loss of billions to the economy, closure of businesses and severe damage to the society, but less attention has been given to addressing it.



Frivolous litigation is another issue, which not only devours the courts’ time but also halts the administration of justice.

Every hearing at the courts involves many individuals, who put in their time and effort that all go in vain when the prosecution and defence seek adjournments for different reasons.

At times, the reason is as simple as the original record of the case is not present in the court and it is somewhere else.

It has often been observed that the officials of the police, the Federal Investigation Agency and the National Accountability Bureau appear before the court either without having the original record of the case or do not file their reply in time.

On the other side, secretaries at key positions at various government departments and officials of the Capital Development Authority do not take the initial hearings seriously and typically, come into action when the courts, angrily, summon them or their higher-ups.

Judges, court officials, prosecution, defence, petitioners, respondents, and many others remain engaged for weeks, months and years, and it not only results in backlog but also increases the cost of litigation.

Usually, files move inside different branches, including criminal, civil, writ, tax.



From there, dates are affixed, notices are prepared and files land before the relevant registrar who sends it to copy branch and ultimately they reach the dispatch branch and the person concerned.

With the passage of time, the frequent delays and frivolous litigation have grown in magnitude and continue to hurt litigants in both tangible and intangible ways.

For instance, four shops remained sealed from July 4 to July 21 at the Sabzi Mandi located in I-11 of the capital after the traders were accused of encroaching state land due to which the right of way was blocked and it posed a serious security threat to the visitors.

It is a valid reason to shut down business, especially, in the wake of the 2014 bomb blast that left 24 people dead and dozens of others injured.

But the story does not end here as it emerged after three hearings at the Islamabad High Court that the request for sealing of the shops was made by the administrator of the market committee who had now conceded that he had not made the referred application to the assistant commissioner.

This is just one example where the officials deprived the shopkeepers and traders of their source of income just because a report – which never existed - was submitted to the officials at the administration and resulted in litigation.

As claimed in the petition, it deprived the traders of their right to life because no person can live without a means of livelihood and the easiest way of depriving a person of his right to life; would be to deprive him of this right.

Delays and frivolous litigation is eroding the judicial system and is resulting in a weakened public confidence in the judicial system.

Perhaps that is why Walter Savage Landor said that “delay in justice is injustice”.

An urgent overhaul and restructuring of the entire legal system is the only panacea to this long-standing issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2016.