Case pendency soars due to court vacancies

RAWALPINDI:

Due to a record number of vacant seats of judges in the Lahore High Court (LHC) and subordinate judiciary, there has been an increase in the cases under trial.

According to officials, the number of petitions and appeals pending at the LHC principal seat and benches in Rawalpindi, Multan and Bahawalpur has reached 145,000, while in the subordinate judiciary in the districts of the province the number has reached 500,000, causing problems for the plaintiffs.

Pending appeals against sentences, including in murder cases, have also increased.

There are 24 vacancies of judges in the LHC, while another judge is due to retire in November.

Justice Shakeel Ahmed will retire on November 11.

The number of seats of judges in the court is 60, which had been set several decades ago, while the population and number of crimes have increased manifold.

The date of retirement of Chief Justice Aalia Neelum is November 11, 2028, while Senior Most Justice Shujaat Ali Khan will retire on April 22, 2026.

No new judges have been appointed in the LHC during the past three years. According to sources, about 20 judges are likely to be appointed during the coming month. The sources said about eight senior district and session judges are likely to be appointed as judges of the high court

The total number of judges in the subordinate judiciary in the province is 1,750, including 159 district and session judges, 503 additional district and session judges, 110 senior civil judges and 978 civil judges.

The sources said the civil family judges are forced to hear more than 80 cases per day and there is a need for 500 more sessions and civil judges.

A lawyer said there is a need to set up conciliation courts in every district for quick disposal of false and petty cases and speedy justice.

Supreme Court Advocate Shaan Zaib Khan said a criminal full division bench should be set up in all high court benches for speedy hearing of appeals against convictions, judgments and reduction of the prison population. He suggested that the bench should only hear appeals from 9am to 3pm daily, its judges should not be assigned to single benches and appeals against sentences of up to five years should be disposed of in the first or second hearing.