‘No blue-eyed officers in evening courts’

The Evening Courts Act 2017 bill had been tabled in the National Assembly (NA) earlier in April


Our Correspondent October 26, 2017
The Evening Courts Act 2017 bill had been tabled in the National Assembly (NA) earlier in April. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: With the backlog of cases in the capital rising to astronomical levels, the government is mulling plans to establish evening courts to ease the burden on the judiciary and ensure speedy trials within the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

The Evening Courts Act 2017 bill had been tabled in the National Assembly (NA) earlier in April. The bill was subsequently referred to the standing committee on law and justice. The committee finally took it up on Wednesday to deliberate.

Briefing the panel on the bill, Law Secretary Karamat Niazi said the measure was inevitable if the government wanted to facilitate the public in the evening, adding that the decision had been taken after consulting the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court.

Explaining the parameters of the bill, he said that sitting and retired judges would hear the civil and criminal cases brought before the court.

He added that apart from functioning on weekdays, the courts will continue to operate on special holidays to keep a smooth pace of disposing cases. Moreover, these courts will hear cases after the consent of both parties.

PPP’s Shagufta Jumani said that if retired judges were being appointed then the committee should be told clearly whether the government wanted to accommodate any of their blue-eyed officials through the scheme.

Niazi, however, denied that the courts were being built for that purpose.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2017.

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