Two judges relieved: SHC in deep crisis with strength at record low

Daily adjournments annoy litigants and lawyers.

KARACHI:

Two more ad hoc judges of the Sindh High Court were relieved of their duties after their appointments were not extended or confirmed by a judicial commission, leaving the highest judicial forum of the province in a deep crisis.

The SHC will now work with only 12 judges, the lowest ever strength in recent history, even though it is supposed to have 40.

The commission, which met at Islamabad on Thursday, however, recommended the confirmation of Justice Muhammad Tasnim, Justice Syed Hasan Azghar Rizvi and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and an extension of a year in service for Justice Nisar M Shaikh. But Justice Imam Bux Baloch and Justice Salman Hamid were laid off as their ad hoc appointments expired.

As a result of the recommendation by the commission, a division bench comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Imam Bux Baloch stood dissolved Friday morning and all of its cases were adjourned to an unspecified date. The cases fixed before Justice Salman Hamid were also withdrawn, resulting in more adjournments.

On Monday, the next working day, Chief Justice Mushir Alam will sit at the memogate commission. This will leave the principal seat of Karachi with only seven judges and two judges each at the Hyderabad and Sukkur circuit benches.

It is a very unusual situation where the appointment of judges is being delayed inordinately despite recommendations by the high court, a member of the SHC Bar Association said, referring to increasing gap between the executive and judiciary.

With dozens of new cases being filed every day and with a large number of daily adjournments, litigants and lawyers both are getting tired and losing confidence in the judicial system of the country, said another senior lawyer.

Adjourned

The hearing of appeals by eleven men accused in corps commander attack case of June 2003 was adjourned indefinitely as the bench set to hear them was dismembered after one of its member judges was not confirmed by the judicial commission.

The appeals were filed by accused Ataur Rahman, Shehzad Mukhtar, Shehzad Bajwa, Danish, Danish Imam and others, questioning the death sentence awarded to them by an Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi.

According to the prosecution, the accused men, belonging to a defunct terrorist organisation, attacked the convoy of the corps commander of Karachi near Old Clifton bridge. Two civilians, including a woman, were killed besides security officials in the attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2012.