May 11, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 12, 1427

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LAHORE, May 10: The Lahore High Court slowed down in disposal of cases of all categories during 2005 owing to a variety of reasons, which include the federal government’s failure to appoint more judges. The LHC has a sanctioned strength of 50 judges and it has not been able to work with this number for decades. Even now 37 judges are functioning, leaving a vacancy of 13. With Justice Sheikh Abdur Rashid due to retire on May 31, the number of vacancies will go further up. Three of them are working as additional judges.

The LHC year-book for the preceding years shows that 69,697 cases were kept pending on the last day of 2005 at the principal seat in Lahore and its benches in Rawalpindi, Multan and Bahawalpur.

The LHC disposed of 77,200 cases during the year which saw the institution of 80,898 cases at the principal seat and its benches. The court’s backlog of cases by the end of 2004 was about 66,000 and their total number reached 146,897 during 2005 with the institution of fresh cases.

As for different categories of cases still under adjudication, 23,705 are constitutional writ petitions, more than 21,000 are civil cases, about 20,000 are criminal cases and a little below 5,000 are the commercial disputes. According to the report, as many as 48,322 cases were lodged at the principal seat and 47,942 were disposed of during the year. By adding another 32,753 cases pending towards the end of 2004, the total cases under adjudication came to 33,133 on the last day of 2005.

As for the LHC benches, the number of cases pending on Dec 31, 2005, was 16,779 in Multan, 10,098 (Rawalpindi) and 9,687 (Bahawalpur). In all the benches the disposal of cases remained on the lower side during the year. For example, 16,245 cases were instituted during the year in Multan and those disposed of were 15,215. Similarly, the Rawalpindi bench disposed of 6,725 out of 8,391 cases and the Bahawalpur bench 7,318 cases out of 7,940.

SESSIONS COURTS: The subordinate judiciary, however, improved its performance during the year by leaving 71,527 cases pending against 86,969 at the end of 2004.

The Punjab’s district and sessions courts disposed of 345,341 out of 416,868 cases during the year which saw the institution of 329,899 fresh cases and another 86,969 were in the backlog. The working strength of the province’s subordinate judiciary on the criminal side comprises 97 district and sessions judges, 61 of who are working ex-cadre, and 324 additional district and sessions judges. They include 34 AD&SJs working ex-cadre. Only two are women. But the performance of civil courts and judicial magistrates also faltered in the disposal of cases during 2005. There are 36 senior civil judges and 654 civil judges and civil judges-cum-judicial magistrates, in addition to 24 in ex-cadre, working on the civil sides of the subordinate judiciary across Punjab.

They adjudicated 1,867,794 civil disputes and disposed of 959,296 of them. As a result, the cases pending towards the end of 2005 have been shown by the LHC’s annual report as 908,498. The civil courts had 904,371 cases in the backlog by the end of 2004 and they received 963,423 fresh cases in 2005. As for the labour courts, they also disposed of cases less than those instituted during the year. The labour courts had a backlog of 2,724 cases on Dec 31, 2004. Another 5,592 cases were added during 2005, raising their number to 8,316. Of them, these courts decided 4,068 disputes and left a bigger backlog than it was in 2004.

The drug and banking courts reportedly put up efforts to show a decline in the backlog. The drug courts had 2,934 cases pending by the end of 2004. Another 1,273 cases were instituted afresh, raising the total to 4,207. The courts disposed of 1,637 cases and left in balance 2,570, which are less than the number of cases pending two years ago. The banking courts settled disputes in 6,700 cases during 2005 and left a balance of 8,850 cases, which are less in number than the earlier backlog.

DISTRICT-WISE DETAILS: The district-wise details of the disposal of criminal cases, as portrayed by the annual report, shows that the sessions courts showed a better performance than the other limbs of the superior and subordinate judiciary.

The courts decided 13,121 cases and also cleared a backlog. These courts had 6,157 cases, mostly registered under the Hudood Ordinance of 1979. Another 12,840 fresh cases were registered and courts decided 13,121 of them.

The LHC annual report also gives a complete detail of all the categories of criminal and civil cases registered and disposed of in the 36 districts of the province during the year.

POLICE: The report portrays that the complaints against the police about keeping citizens in illegal confinement, harassing people without reason and refusing the registration of FIRs were on the rise.

The sessions courts disposed of more such cases in 2005 than in the preceding years. They decided more than 6,000 complaints of habeas corpus and 14,828 cases of harassment. But what is alarming is that the courts had received as many as 56,469 complaints against non-registration of FIRs and decided 55,569 of them. About 4,000 such complaints remained pending.

CHILDREN: The report also mentions the cases of the custody of rescued children for the first time. The law in this regard was enforced on July 1, 2005.

The LHC established one court in Lahore, which has received 1,484 such cases and decided 791 of them. The same court disposed of 11 criminal cases against juvenile offenders while 22 are pending.

DISPOSSESSION: The report also mentions for the first time the disposal of cases concerning illegal dispossession from the landed property. The law was enacted by the Punjab Assembly last year with the objective of taking stock of the land-grabbing mafia.

The sessions and civil courts disposed of 1,049 of 1,823 such cases during the year. The highest number (184) of such complaints came from Lahore, followed by 160 in Jhang, 140 in Gujranwala, 110 in Rawalpindi, 109 in Sialkot and 101 in Muzaffargrah.