Lawyer wants an end to vacations for judges

Files petition in Peshawar registry of the SC

PESHAWER: Courts across the country are currently on a summer break, an annual practice which predates the creation of the country. But with a massive backlog of cases, one senior lawyer is hoping to change the culture, having challenged it in court.

The lawyer in question, Muhammad Khurshid, has asked the superior judiciary to abolish the vacation system so that courts can remain open the year round and clear the massive and still-growing pile of pending case in the district and session courts, high courts and even in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Khurshid has filed his petition in the Peshawar registry of the Supreme Court (SC).

He noted that in the backdrop of such a high rate of case pendency, it seems like a luxury for judges to enjoy extended vacations during the summer.



“Every day that a court is closed, the backlog of cases will always increase. Leaves must be regulated in such a way that the judicial process does not stop, and we are able to deal with cases continuously,” he contended.

The petitioner noted that a high court judge costs the state around Rs45,000 per day. However, a judge’s daily case disposal rate was barely 1.4 per cent.

Citing the poverty in the country, he said that the country can ill afford such an expensive judiciary, where, in spite of providing justice, judges are passing paid days as vacations.

To lower the case backlog, he stressed that there must be some form of emergency reforms in the judicial system —including the abolishment of long vacations.

Talking about the history of the long summer vacations, Khurshid said that the tradition begun during the British era when all the judges used to be English who could not cope with the scorching heat of the Indian subcontinent.



Hence, during the summer, English judges — like other English officers — would leave for their country during the summer.

“But our judiciary is still following that tradition, though there is no such provision of long summer vacations for government officers in the country.”

The petitioner added that unlike now, there was also a backlog of cases during the British era, therefore now there is no need to allow judges to go no long vacations.

Like other high courts in the country, The PHC is also currently on a two-month-long summer vacation from July 1 to September 1.
On the other hand, the district courts of Islamabad will observe a month-long holiday.

During the vacation, duty judges will hear bail matters, habeas corpus petitions, detention matters and cases related to the imminent threat of irreparable loss.

The petitioner urged the court to scrap the summer and winter vacation provision and also direct judges throughout the country to hear cases on Saturdays so that the high case backlog can be addressed.

The registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and registrars of other five high courts have been listed as respondents in the case.