The Lahore High Court (LHC) chief justice on Wednesday sought explanations from district and sessions judges of Lahore, Faisalabad, Jhang, Multan, Sahiwal, Sargodha and Dera Ghazi Khan as to why the targets set for of disposal of old cases in the districts had not been achieved.
The CJ said that through an effective implementation of the National Judicial Policy, 29 districts in the Punjab had achieved the target of disposing the cases filed up to 2008.
The district courts were tasked to clear the backlog of old cases up to March 31, 2013. Only the districts of Lahore, Faisalabad, Jhang, Multan, Sahiwal, Sargodha and DG Khan did not meet the target.
Through a letter written by the LHC registrar, district and sessions judges of these districts have been directed to explain why the target of disposal of old cases had not been achieved.
They have been further directed to proceed with the old cases [filed up till 2008] on day to day basis and report the status of each case daily to the National Judicial Policy Implementation Cell at the Lahore High Court.
“If the concerned judicial officers face any problem at local level regarding disposal of old cases, the district and sessions judges of the these districts shall formulate a policy for effective management and prompt disposal of these cases,” the Lahore High Court letter said.
The judges have been directed to ensure the compliance of the directions of CJ in letter and spirit and warned that defiance shall entail strict action.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 18th, 2013.