Delay often 'extinguishes justice': SC

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court has noted that it cannot remain indifferent to the systemic malaise of delay in the adjudication of cases, adding that justice delayed is not merely justice denied—it is often justice extinguished.

In a four-page verdict on an appeal filed against a high court order in an auction case, the SC lamented that the appeal of the petitioner in the case remained pending before the high court for ten years while it took three years for the SC to take up the matter.

The verdict authored by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said the question that engaged the attention of the court was not limited to the validity of the auction; rather it extended to whether any meaningful relief could now be granted after the passage of fourteen years. "Even if the petitioner's claim had merit, the sands of time have all but eroded its potency," it stated.

The verdict said it is beyond cavil that delay in adjudicating cases by the courts at any tier of the justice system corrodes public confidence in the judiciary, undermines the rule of law, and disproportionately harms the weak and vulnerable who cannot afford the cost of prolonged litigation.

"Delay in adjudication carries severe macroeconomic and societal consequences: it deters investment, renders contracts illusory, and weakens the institutional legitimacy of the judiciary.

"A justice system's credibility rests not only in the fairness of its decisions but also in the timeliness with which those decisions are rendered. The issue is not merely administrative, it is constitutional".

It stated that the right to access to justice is guaranteed by Articles 4, 9 and 10A of the Constitution and it encompasses within it the right to a fair and timely trial. Delay that renders a remedy ineffective or a right illusory amount to a denial of due process. Justice, to be real, must be both just and timely.

The verdict said over 2.2 million cases are currently pending before courts across Pakistan, including approximately 55,941 cases before the SC alone despite enhancing the number of judges. These figures, he said, are not abstract—they represent disputes suspended in time.

It said delay in adjudication is not merely a by-product of docket congestion or branch-level inefficiencies; it is a deeper, structural challenge of judicial governance.