Body formed to fix hearings of pending cases

CJ Isa, Justice Masood meet PBC, SCBA teams for their input

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Wednesday said a committee had been formed to chalk out a policy for fixing the hearings of cases of those litigants who had been waiting for years to receive justice.

“The body will include a member each from both the PBC and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) as well as top court judges,” Executive Chairman Hassan Raza Pasha told the media outside the SC building.

Pasha said a policy would be prepared to schedule criminal and land grabbing cases for hearing.
The development came after Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood held a meeting with delegations of both the PBC and SCBA.

During the huddle, the legal fraternity offered suggestions on the formation of benches, pending cases, and urgent ones for early hearing.

The lawyers apprised the top judge about the common litigants’ cases not fixed for hearing.

The new CJP listened to the issues raised by the legal fraternity, deciding to issue a decision on them later.

According to sources, the SC registrar had been directed to prepare a complete report of the pending cases.

Former PBC chief and senior lawyer Abid Saqi, who participated in the meeting, asked CJ Isa to schedule the Faizabad Dharna execution case for hearing.

The CJ asked Saqi if the Faizabad Dharna execution case was not fixed for hearing, would he stage a sit-in against him. Saqi replied with a smile in the affirmative. “Yes, I will stage a sit-in against you (Justice Isa),” he said.

After the meeting, Pasha told reporters that CJ Isa had sought the legal fraternity’s input on different pressing judicial matters, especially those related to the efficient administration of justice.

He informed the media that the CJ had sought recommendations from the lawyers’ bodies in writing and they had submitted them to him.

He added that they expected the CJ to take their written recommendations into consideration.
The PBC official said they believed that the SC wanted to alleviate the problems faced by the common man.

He continued that the SC agreed with the legal fraternity on various subjects and the PBC took up the issue of complaints against certain judges.

Pasha maintained that the top court was dedicated to creating a sustainable long-term policy and expressed its commitment to promptly resolving pending cases as well as ensuring equitable justice for all.

He added that the sole focus of the huddle was to collaboratively develop a comprehensive policy meant to eliminate the barriers obstructing the delivery of justice.

Pasha said that the PBC and SCBA’s separate recommendations were 70% to 80% similar and the CJP had agreed with many of them.

The PBC official said the upcoming general elections or political cases were not discussed in the huddle and their recommendations were only related to the top court.