Judiciary is doing the job of other institutions: Chief Justice Lahore High Court

Lahore: Chief Justice Lahore High Court, Mr. Justice Umar Ata Bandial has underlined the need of strengthening the institutions of the motherland.

He was addressing a symposium on Role and Jurisdiction of Courts Under Laws Governing Corporate Sector jointly organized by the Punjab Judicial Academy and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

Chief Justice said that judiciary is doing the job of other institutions because they are weak and not handling their affairs properly. He stressed upon the regulatory bodies like, SECP, OGRA, PEMRA etc. to come forward to play their role in fortifying the state institutions. This will help lessen the burden of cases on courts. He noted with concern that there are four banking courts in the provincial metropolis and three of them are without judges. Courts are confronted with three types of litigation. The miscellaneous one is due to the inefficiency of the institutions. Second, the frivolous and the third is a real litigation involving resolution question of law. Chief Justice said that being the biggest province courts in Punjab have been burdened with more than eleven lakh cases. This also speaks volumes of the trust reposed in the institution of the judiciary. Under the National Judicial Policy Making Committee decisions we are entrusted to dispose of old cases that are up to the year of 2008. Previously, the capacity of courts was dispensation of 300 old cases per day whereas today with the grace of Allah Almighty we have doubled this figure i.e. 600 cases per day and 60000 cases have seen light of the day in a span of one and a half months. We are committed to clear this backlog of old cases within a period of two to three years, the Chief Justice expressed the resolve. Chief Justice said that this has been possible with the active cooperation of the Bar. He appreciated the efforts of the Bar Councils and Bar Associations due to which ugly incidents of misbehavior with the members of the judiciary have been minimized. Chief Justice said that we are an institution, committed to providing relief and succor to the litigant public which is the major stakeholder of the system of justice. Bar was equally an institution with whose help this task is being achieved. Chief Justice said that judiciary has offered sacrifices in the past and will continue to offer for the sake of litigant public.

Honourable Judge Lahore High Court Mr. Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Retd. Tanvir Ahmad Khan, DG Punjab Judicial Academy Justice Retd. Khalil ur Rehman Khan, Consultant Punjab Judicial Academy, Mr. Muhammad Ali, Chairman SECP Muzaffar Ahmad Mirza Qaiser Javed Mian and Afzal Mufti also spoke on the occasion.