Outgoing year proved gloomy for judiciary

Dearth of judges, lawyers’ strikes exacerbate backlog of cases

RAWALPINDI:

The outgoing year has proved to be inauspicious for the judiciary including the bar as well as the bench.

The lawyers continued their strikes this year as well, whereas the conflict between the bench and the bar is still at its peak. Due to this situation, hearings of several cases remained pending in all four districts of the Rawalpindi Division; 13 tehsil katchehris and in the whole of the district judiciary.

Even now, the number of pending cases in the lower judiciary has exceeded 500,000 while 200,000 cases, including criminal and civil petitions, are pending in the high courts.

The number of approved seats of judges in the Lahore High Court is 60 while at present only 41 judges are performing their duties and 19 seats are lying vacant.

Due to a severe shortage of judges, Rawalpindi’s subordinate judiciary has started fixing new dates for cases in mid-January and in February. Whereas, new dates of all civil cases are being fixed after February 15.

A year ago there was a proposal to increase the number of approved seats for judges in the Lahore High Court from 60 to 80 and later to 100, but due to a severe lack of funds, this proposal was put on the back burner.

There is an urgent need for 600 judges in the subordinate judiciary, while a total of 1,716 judges are currently performing their duties including 165 district and sessions judges, 504 additional district and sessions judges, 110 senior civil judges and 937 magistrates looking after civil and family matters. At least 12 district and sessions judges and a single LHC judge will retire in 2023.

Due to a lack of judges and strikes by lawyers, the hearing of cases is being badly affected. A total of 11,000 cases were pending in the Rawalpindi Division in a week due to the ongoing strike in the lower judiciary of Punjab for the last seven days.

Due to a lack of judges, civil especially family cases have also been pending for two to three years. Divorce cases by way of khula have started to be dealt with within two to three months, whereas the family cases of merit are now being given dates from December to February. Due to this situation, the applicants' families are facing severe problems.

According to Malik Mubashir, the secretary general of the district bar, 500 new additional and civil judges should be appointed in the lower judiciary on an immediate basis. “To end the pendency, new appointments should be made on the 19 vacant seats of judges in the LHC and representation should also be given to the lawyers of Rawalpindi,” he said.

Senior lawyers for criminal cases Sibtain Bukhari, Shan Zeb Khan and Asim Rasheed said that the lawyers do not strike without justification. “We do not want arbitrary decisions. The bench should listen to the bar in detail first and then take any decision they want,” they said.

The lawyers said that the ideal working relationship between the bar and the bench was essential for the dispensation of cheap and quick justice. “The judiciary should not make arbitrary and lopsided decisions,” they said. “If any problem arises, it should be solved immediately by consulting the heads of the high court and the district bars,” they added.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2022.