Environment-Friendly: Green bench set up in AJK’s apex court

Bench set up in light of recommendations presented during a two-day South Asia Conference on Environmental Justice.

MIRPUR:

Chief Justice of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Justice Muhammad Azam Khan has constituted a three-member green bench in the AJK apex court to exclusively hear cases pertaining to the state’s environmental issues.

The bench comprises AJK Supreme Court chief justice, Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Zia and Justice Raja Saeed Akram, said a press release issued by the apex court’s deputy registrar on Monday.

The bench has been set up in light of recommendations presented during a two-day South Asia Conference on Environmental Justice that concluded at Bhurban, Murree on March 25.

The conference was attended by judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, chief justices of provincial high courts, as well as judges and chief justices of various South Asian countries.

According to sources, a similar bench is also being constituted in the AJK High Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2012.