Courts directed to settle service rules issue

ATC judge cancels bail of six suspects in assault case

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD: The apex court on Monday instructed the lower judiciary in Islamabad and the federal government to amicably resolve the issue of service rules through mutual understanding.

This was directed by a three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC), headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa.

During the hearing of the case, Chief Justice Khosa observed that an amendment needs to be made in the law to change the service rules. It was better if the government and other respondent address the issue with mutual consultation, he said, adding that the court will issue a verdict on the matter if it is not resolved amicably.

Naeem Bukhari, who was representing the lower judiciary in the case, argued that this issue was not of public interest. The counsel further said that the government has yet to begin the amendment process. However, Justice Saeed dismissed his argument and gave the respondents four weeks to resolve the issue and then adjourned the case.

ATC on assault case

A special anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday cancelled the interim bail of six suspects for allegedly assaulting a manager.

Subsequently, the police arrested the suspects in court and acquired five-days physical remand.

The court also adjourned the riot case of Ameer Hussain who is the brother of Khadim Rizvi and his accomplices until April 15. Moreover, the court sentenced three men including Farhat, Umair Ali and Muhammad Aijaz, to serve two months in jail for resisting the police.

Family court cases

The family courts of Rawalpindi have granted 298 divorces in favour of women in the first three months of 2019. The courts have also ordered both the parties to reconcile in four cases. Mothers were given custody of their children in as many as 31 cases.

In a further 110 cases, the court has ruled in favour of women plaintiffs, ordering their former spouses to bear the expenses of their former wives and their children.

However, there are still around 8,000 unresolved cases in the district family court. Furthermore, up to 65 women were sent to Darul-Aman and Darul-Falah. Moreover, a 500% increase has been recorded in the number of domestic dispute cases over the past five years.

The percentage of fights in out-of-family, love and internet marriages is up by 60 to 70 per cent while the reconciliation rate in these cases is just five per cent.

This rate stays for only a few months when these cases are brought to the court again.

Model court

For speedy decisions of murder and drug cases, a model court has started operating in Rawalpindi district.

On its first day, Additional District and Session Judge Shahid Zameer heard as many as eight cases. Around 35 cases, including 25 of murder and 10 for drug smuggling, had been transferred to the model court. The police will be responsible for presenting the witnesses before the court. However, the witness or suspect could record their statements online in case of any difficulty.

Moreover, Senior Reader Mehboob Hussain Awan and Senior Stenographer Muhammad Rizwan have taken charge of their posts in the court on Monday.

The model courts have been directed to decide murder cases in a week.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2^nd, 2019.