Court is criticised by some quarters for being interested in political cases

Pendency of criminal cases, however, has decreased greatly

ISLAMABAD: The pendency of cases in the Supreme Court hit an all-time high of 39,525 on May 31.

According to the fortnightly SC report, there has been rapid increase in the institution of the cases in the apex court as 978 cases were filed from May 15 to May 31. The SC decided 420 during the same period.

This rapid increase in cases is the biggest challenge faced by the top court, which is being criticised in some circles for being more interested in dealing with political matters. The pendency may increase further due to summer vacations. It has also been witnessed that no effective policy has been introduced to address this massive backlog.

Likewise, the institution rate of cases in the SC has risen to unprecedented levels.



Former additional attorney general Tariq Mahmood Khokhar listed several reasons for an increase in the institution of cases. “The country’s population has increased. As a nation, we are more inclined to litigation, then most cases were filed against the executive, which shows the government’s failure to redress people’s grievances, and there’s a trend of filing frivolous petitions; litigants approach superior courts against lower courts’ verdicts due to poor standard of justice system; disposal of cases in different high courts have increased due to the appointment of more judges, so appeals are filed against them.” To discourage the trend, he recommended implementing a ‘costs and fine system’.



Similarly, another senior lawyer believes that huge pendency of civil cases in the top court is the biggest challenge. He also recommended that the time has come to implement a costs and fine system. SC judges should also promote alternate dispute resolution systems in the country, he added. The lawyer also says that increase in public interest litigation also encourages citizens to approach the apex court, even though litigants have no solid case to contest.  He further states that government departments should also review their policies and avoid filing frivolous cases.

During the Eighth Judicial Conference, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said, “There is a need to consider the ‘bar of finality’, about the adjudication on facts,” and added, “Only points of law should be brought before the apex court.”



On the other hand, senior lawyers appreciated the SC, especially Justice Khosa, for working to end the backlog of criminal appeals.

Law & Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) Secretary Muhammad Raheem Awan told The Express Tribune that a special bench led by Justice Khosa has decided more than 10,000 cases since 2014 and only few hundred criminal appeals were still pending at the Principal Registry. He said these should be decided by the end of August.

Awan added that there were no pending appeals at the SC’s Karachi and Quetta registries.

Another senior SC official shared that when the special bench got active, criminal appeals which were filed as far back as the 1990s were pending in the apex court. The bench cleared the backlog and now it is hearing criminal appeals from 2017 onwards.