Honest service: SHC CJ tells lawyers to avoid boycotting courts

Advises legal fraternity to think of other forms of protest.

HYDERABAD: Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Faisal Arab advised the legal fraternity to avoid resorting to frequent boycotts of court proceedings in the interest of litigants.

"This is a great disservice to the litigant public," he said at a reception hosted by the outgoing body of the SHC Bar Association, Hyderabad chapter on Friday night. "Why close the doors of justice on people?"

He asked lawyers to think of other forms of protests to express their grievances or demands before the government. Justice Arab said delayed justice works in the favour of powerful segments of society and harms the weaker ones. "Consequently, many people become disillusioned with the judicial system and take the law in their hands."

"[The] state machinery is equally to be blamed for this," he said, adding that both the lawyers and civil society have given many sacrifices for the judicial system. "It is about time that efforts be made to make the justice delivery system more efficient and effective. Let us all with our efforts make the judiciary a vehicle for change."

Vacancies and adjournments

The chief justice noted that another cause of delay in the dispensation of justice is the adjournment of proceedings. "I have seen that courts have remained vacant, not just for days or weeks or months but, at times, for more than a year."

He said that he made it a priority to fill vacancies of judicial officers after assuming charge. According to Arab, out of 78 vacant posts of additional district judges (ADJs), 39 will be filled within a month while as many will be filled by August this year. "A total of 1,300 lawyers have applied for these jobs," he said.

Similarly, senior civil judges will also be appointed on the 30 of the 40 available posts within a month. As many as 1,700 lawyers have applied for 49 positions of judicial magistrates, out of which 24 appointments will be made by April and 25 more by June. The hiring process on the remaining 57 vacancies of judicial magistrates will be carried out in October, he added.

These all include 58 additional posts of district judges, additional district judges, senior civil judges and judicial magistrates which were created in 2014 in addition to the then sanctioned strength in Sindh.

"I request the lawyers to work hard and come prepared for the tests so that we can be able to select a good number of candidates to fill a large number of vacancies."

Justice Arab said that the appointment process on the vacant posts in the SHC will also be started in March. After this, the strength of judges will be increased to six in the SHC Hyderabad bench, five in the Sukkur bench and three in the Larkana bench. On average, around 200 cases are heard per day in the Hyderabad circuit bench where three to four judges serve on rotational basis. Its jurisdiction is spread over 13 districts of Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Nawabshah divisions.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2015.