SC seeks SHC’s report on delay in bail cases

Disposes of its first-ever case heard via a video link under e-court system

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa on Monday sought report from the Sindh High Court (SHC) about delay in deciding bail cases as the apex court disposed of its first-ever case heard via a video link under the e-court system.

The CJP, who is also chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), took notice of the delay in deciding the bail application while hearing a matter about bail of a murder accused, Noor Muhammad.

It is for the first time in the country's judicial history, that the SJC chairman initiated proceeding against judges over ‘inefficiency’. On April 29, the SJC summoned a Lahore High Court (LHC) judge over alleged delay in deciding cases in violation of the Article-X of Judges' Code of Conduct. However, the council withdrew the show-cause notice after getting a satisfactory reply by the LHC judge.

SC makes history by hearing cases through e-court facility

The case of Noor Muhammad was the first to be taken up under the e-court system and Advocate Yousuf Leghari was the first lawyer to argue in the case through a video link from Karachi.

He presented his case before a three-member bench, headed by the CJP Khosa and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel at the principal seat in Islamabad.

Leghari told the bench that a complaint was registered against his client in 2014 and the trial court had rejected his pre-arrest bail. Later the accused approached the SHC seeking pre-arrest bail in 2016. The matter lingered for three years and the bail was rejected on February 15, 2019.

The chief justice wondered how a case remained pending in the SHC for three years, adding that such cases fall in preview of judges' misconduct.  The CJP asked SC registrar, who is the SJC secretary, to get a copy of the high court’s order to examine the reasons behind delay in this case.

He also sought report on delay in deciding bail cases within two weeks.

In March, 676 cases of pre-arrest bail were pending before the SHC principal seat, the Sukkur bench and the circuit courts at Larkana and Hyderabad. The SC also noted that the accused remained on protective bail for 7 years and his protective bail application took five years to be decided in the province of Sindh.

'Inefficient' judges

According to the Code of Conduct, a judge should take all steps to decide cases within the shortest time and make every effort to minimise the suffering of litigants by deciding cases expeditiously through proper, written judgements.

"A judge who is unmindful or indifferent towards this aspect of his duty is not faithful to his work, which is a grave fault," it reads. However, the council had never issued a show-cause notice to any judge over the violation of Article-X before.

Amina Sheikh, a lawyer, believes that ensuring efficiency in dispensation of justice is a condition for the rule of law. A Pakistan Bar Council executive member told The Express Tribune that the decision to proceed against any judge who is found to be inefficient is getting increasingly unavoidable.

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"It is an essential step in judicial accountability and if executed fairly and transparently, it will significantly improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of our judicial system," he added.

In the last three years, the SJP has issued many show-cause notices to judges of superior courts over charges of misconduct. These notices were mostly discharged after the judges submitted satisfactory replies to the council.

PTCL officers' corruption

In a separate case, also heard via video link, the same SC bench rejected the review petition filed against the punishment awarded to the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited's (PTCL) divisional engineer, Saeedullah Soomro, for corruption and illegal properties.

In his conversation with the appellant, CJP Khosa asked, "What was the source of your income that you bought properties worth millions, shares and cars? Are the salaries of government employees enough to amass properties?"

Soomro said, "I accumulated wealth by driving cars, other than doing the job." The CJP expressed surprise again. "Can a government officer do so much apart from a government job?", adding that the SHC had also forgotten about the Rs20 million fine. "Now, go and also pay the penalty," the CJP said.

"First you bought a plot and then a 32-acre piece of land during your service. Then, you bought three flats, one after the other and purchased two cars during service, and shares as well as several items costing Rs1.21 million," said the CJP.

"My father had purchased the 32-acre land," said Saeedullah, to which the CJ remarked, "It is very easy to buy and sell a property in father's name during the service. You tell us the mistake in the SC verdict. You will have to pay the penalty. Your review petition is being rejected."

The trial court had awarded three-year imprisonment and Rs20 million as penalty to Saeedullah. The SHC had released him after completion of his punishment, but the suspect had not paid the penalty.

Bail pleas accepted

The same bench also accepted the bail pleas of three accused in a murder case. After hearing the arguments via video link, the court accepted the pre-arrest bail pleas of accused Hafeez Ahmed, Amjad Ali and Irfan Ahmed. The bail pleas had earlier been rejected by the SHC's Sukkur bench.