LHC order: All courts in Punjab to stay open on Saturdays

CJ also calls SC meeting on matter of two weekly holidays.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) and all subordinate courts in Punjab will not observe two weekly holidays, LHC registrar Sohail Nasir said on Friday.

Nasir said that he had received a federal government notification calling for Saturday holidays for banking courts, custom courts, anti-narcotics courts, FIA courts and income tax tribunals. However, the LHC has decided to keep all courts in the province open on Saturdays, in view of the high number of cases yet to be processed through the legal system.

In Islamabad, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has called a meeting of the Supreme Court on the matter of two weekly holidays. According to sources, the meeting will take place on Monday.

The CJ summoned the meeting after the court received government notification of the extra holiday. The court has so far rejected the government’s decision, though it has agreed to a compromise in the form of air conditioners not being used until 11.30 am in all courts.

No notification from Sindh, Balochistan

The governments of Sindh and Balochistan have so far not issued any notifications announcing two weekly holidays.

The two provinces are undecided on whether or not to observe two off days in a week, Express 24/7 reported. Meanwhile, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have already rejected the federal government’s decision to observe two holidays in a week.

SBP announces holiday on Saturday, Sunday

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced that all its operation and field offices will remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

Commercial banks will have a choice of whether or not to close their operations on Saturday, regardless of the SBP’s directives, State Bank spokesperson Syed Wasimuddin said. He added, however, that commercial banks have been told to adjust their timings.

The commercial banks’ public dealing timings have been revised to 9 am to 5.30 pm from Monday to Thursday and 9 am to 6.00 pm on Fridays.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2011.