HR Cell gets overwhelming response from overseas Pakistanis. PHOTO: FILE
The Supreme Court’s Human Rights Cell has heard 215,031 applications since November 1, 2009, out of which 195,252 applications have been disposed of while 19,779 are still pending, said the cell’s director-general Khalid Tippu Rana.
Briefing the media on Thursday about the working of the body, he talked more about the cell’s expatriates’ wing, established by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani on January 10, to facilitate overseas Pakistanis.
The wing has received 252 complaints so far, out of which 49 have been disposed of and in most of the cases the applicants’ grievances have been redressed.
According to SC’s declaration, the applications received so far highlighted the following issues: illegal possession of their properties in Pakistan or related threats, inordinate delay in decisions of pending court cases, property fraud, lack of quality professional legal advice, and the inability to pursue their matters from abroad.
Giving details about these complaints and their resolution, he gave many examples of the cases the cell has dealt with or is dealing with at the moment. An overseas Pakistani from Saudi Arabia, in an email, claimed that 3,000 Pakistanis arrested by the Saudi government were stranded in Jeddah’s deportation centre because the Pakistan Embassy has not prepared their documentation for deportation. Taking notice, the foreign secretary apprised that a camp office has been established by the Pakistan Consulate in the Tehreem Deportation Centre, Jeddah, for required relief and early deportation.
The data regarding these pending cases is being collected, the Human Rights Cell DG said. A proposal has been sent to the National Judicial Policymaking Committee’s (NJPC) secretary to prioritise such cases, fixing a period of six months for their disposal.
The proposal has been sent to the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan to engage high courts to consider amendments in the Civil Procedure Code to expedite the disposal of such cases.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2014.
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