Pindi gets second Anti-Narcotics Court

RAWALPINDI:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has formally approved the establishment of a second Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Special Court in Rawalpindi, following a record backlog of 650 cases in the existing court.

Officials from the federal Ministry of Law visited the Rawalpindi District Courts on Thursday and granted approval for courtroom space and the required staff for the new ANF Court-II.

The court will be set up on the upper floor above the existing Court No. 1 and is expected to become operational in the first week of April.

A summary for the appointment of a judge has already been prepared. Senior District and Sessions Judge Raja Ghazanfar is likely to be appointed as the first judge of the new court.

Approximately 325 cases will be transferred to the newly established court to ease the burden on the existing one. Initially, Senior Public Prosecutor Zia Qayyum Kiani—currently serving in Court No. 1—will oversee and prosecute cases in the second court until a separate prosecutor is formally appointed.

In Islamabad, two ANF courts are already operational. The Rawalpindi ANF court handles cases from across the division's six districts—Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Talagang and Murree. With the caseload exceeding 650, approval for a second court was deemed necessary.

Due to the heavy backlog, the Rawalpindi court currently fixes between 70 and 80 cases daily for hearing, excluding bail matters, custody (supurdari) cases, miscellaneous applications, and other pending proceedings.