Access to judiciary: SHC sets up special cell for overseas Pakistanis

Special cell will be operational with immediate effect.

KARACHI: If you are a Pakistani living abroad, you can breathe a sigh of relief as the Sindh High Court (SHC) has established a special cell for overseas nationals.

This cell established by SHC Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar will take care of all litigation involving overseas Pakistanis, including family disputes, monetary frauds, property issues and cases pending before other courts in the country, The Express Tribune learnt on Tuesday.

Headed by the SHC's member inspection team-II (MIT-II), the cell will start functioning with immediate effect and will take notice of all complaints of public interest. According to sources, the cell will receive complaints from the overseas community through email, fax and post.

Cases can be as varied as fraud, delays in trial of cases pending before the country's courts, problems facing the community in family cases and their legal issues, illegal possession or dispossession from property.

"The cell will ensure disposal of cases filed by overseas Pakistanis and pending before the courts in the country," the source explained.

This cell will have the assistance of the information technology department of the SHC, which will furnish printed copies of the email pertaining to the grievances of the overseas community to the SHC MIT-II through the assistant registrar of inspection.

The team will forward these letters to the relevant district and sessions judges for disposal under the human rights in accordance with the law. "The district and sessions judges will ensure disposal of such cases within 15 days and its fate will be furnished to the MIT-II for perusal of the chief justice," an official privy to the process told The Express Tribune.

To ensure the success of the initiative taken to help the millions of countrymen, the SHC registrar Fahim Ahmed Siddiqui has directed the assistant registrars of all the judicial branches of the high court working at the circuit benches in Sukkur, Larkana and Hyderabad to identify the cases pertaining to overseas Pakistanis and furnish their details to the MIT-II. "All such cases should be enfolded in a folder or file cover of Navy blue colour," the official specified.

According to sources, the high court has directed all the judicial officers that the cases pertaining to the overseas community should be taken up at a priority so that such cases may not suffer unnecessary delays and be disposed of expeditiously.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2014.