Federal court to start working in a few months: Bhinder
By Our Correspondent
LAHORE, Dec 21: Minister of State for Law, Justice and Human Rights Chaudhry Shahid Akram Bhinder has said the government has not dropped the idea of establishing a federal court to adjudicate disputes arising out of commercial, financial and taxation matters.
The minister told this correspondent at a seminar here on Tuesday that the federal court was expected to start working in a few months and its judges would be taken from experts in the field. "Of course, it (court) will be under the control of the executive and not the judiciary," he said in response to a question.
Answering another question, he claimed that the superior judiciary had no objection to the establishment of such a court. He said he had personally met the chief justices of the provinces, including Iftikhar Husain Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court, to solicit their view. "They do not have objections to the establishment of the federal court," he added.
Replying to another question, the minister said the government would appoint experts to the posts of judges of court because they understood the nature of the dispute in financial and commercial matters.
Asked if an amendment was being made to the constitution to set up the federal court, he said it was not needed. He said the proposed court would set up various tribunals in provinces and other places where they would be required to specify the work assigned to them in a particular field.
In reply to a question, he said the last meeting of the Pakistan Law Commission in Islamabad had not rejected the establishment of such a court and the reports carried by a section of the press were incorrect.
