Date after Date. Hearing after hearing. The courts in Pakistan are known for delaying justice by simply extending hearings and issuing new dates. As a result, many cases are pending for months and years while people lose faith in the judicial system.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa has said that the trend of seeking another date for hearing will no longer be entertained by the Supreme Court. During a case hearing, he reprimanded a lawyer for not presenting documents and asked him to forget about seeking an adjournment. He said courts often adjourn cases over the lack of documents but this “will no longer fly” in the apex court.
The Supreme Court faces a huge backlog of cases. The previous chief justice said record cases were disposed of during the previous judicial year. But the increasing number of new cases means that the backlog continues. According to a report by the apex court ending August, there are a staggering 56,544 cases pending before the court- the highest ever since independence.
After Justice Isa took oath just earlier this month on September 16, in his first week, the chief justice constituted a committee of judges on case management to address the backlog of these pending cases. The Registrar has also been directed to submit a record of all the pending cases. He also met the members of the lawyers’ fraternity to discuss the court disposal rates.
The case backlog in the Supreme Court has also been blamed on court priorities. The last year witnessed several political cases as the apex court clashed with parliament regarding the holding of elections. Some experts believe that judicial politics affected adjudication of cases. Nevertheless, the situation seems to have changed with the new chief justice.
The judiciary needs drastic reforms to end delaying hearings and ensure speedy trial. It is often that case hearings are adjourned on trivial issues such as the absence of judges, lawyers, witnesses, or officials. The plaintiff is seen running from pillar to post seeking justice. As aptly said, ‘Justice delayed is denied’. It is imperative to expedite the pending cases and provide speedy justice.
