As the patience of lawyers and litigants is running out, the shifting of the lower judiciary to the newly built judicial complex in G-10/1 seems to be not in sight.
Interior Ministry was under fire over its failure to shift Islamabad’s district courts to the safer and more spacious locality.
Federal Ministry for Interior Rehman Malik on Tuesday informed the upper house of parliament during the question hour that offices of chief commissioner (CC) and deputy commissioner (DC) would be shifted after the completion of the Judicial Complex at G-10/1 next week. But he did not give any date for shifting of lower judiciary to the complex.
He claimed that Islamabad High Court (IHC) has been housed in the complex which caused the delay.
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) had allotted five acres of land in sector G-10/1 for the complex.
The complex was to be built at a cost of Rs218 million, to house under one roof the offices of chief commissioner, Inspector General of Police, Deputy Commissioner, SSP, excise and taxation administration and district courts.
Currently, most of these offices including the lower courts are functioning in F-8. Owing to congestion at the district courts, the litigants as well as the lawyers are facing immense problems. The overcrowded kutchery not only causes inconvenience for the visitors and the officials, but is also a security risk. The presence of police offices and courts in the F-8 Markaz is also a dangerous predicament for the residents of the posh sector and visitors to the commercial area adjacent to the courts. District courts have also received threats from the terrorists in the recent past.
On the other hand, the law ministry had earlier proposed to shift the IHC near Supreme Court to make space for the lower judiciary and lawyers’ chambers in the complex.
A group of lawyers opposed the idea to shift IHC in the red-zone. They also threatened to resist the move.
Munaza Kazmi, a young lawyer, told The Express Tribune that it was difficult for poor litigants to access the high-security zone. “It is not understandable why the government is not shifting district courts to a safer and open place,” she commented.
Justice (retd) Tariq Mahmood, a prominent figure in the lawyers’ movement, told the reporter that the young lawyers were opposing the idea to shift IHC because they considered it as “a professional threat”.
If the IHC is shifted to the red-zone, senior lawyers from SC would be able to appear in the high court which would affect the practice of young lawyers, he said.
“But it is a bitter reality that district courts in all the major cities of the country are functioning in miserable condition, especially in Karachi and Quetta,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2011.
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