LAHORE, May 20: The expansion of the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench and construction of judicial complexes at Multan, Bahawalpur, Lodhran and Jhelum are some of the 118 schemes which were initiated in 2005 under the Asian Development Bank-sponsored Access to Justice Programme (AJP).

According to a spokesperson, the planning and development wing of the LHC undertook another 119 schemes which were in different stages of completion. The federal government had released an amount of Rs11.06 billion from the AJP for the completed and ongoing schemes. As for the schemes already completed, 159 courtrooms and residences for civil judges and 89 courtrooms and houses for sessions judges were constructed in 2005.

As for the ongoing schemes, 214 courtrooms and residences for civil judges and 115 for sessions judges are being constructed across the province, according to the spokesperson.

The wing acquired more than 23 kanals for expansion of the Rawalpindi bench. About 1,000 kanals were acquired for the construction of a judicial complex at Multan, around 50 kanals for a judicial complex at Jhelum and about nine marlas for a courts complex at Chunian in Kasur district. Another 19 kanals were acquired for the construction of a link road to the Rawalpindi bench from the north of the city.

Hundreds of kanals were also acquired for the construction of more courtrooms and residences of the judicial officers adjacent to judicial complexes across the province. About 200 kanals were acquired for a judicial complex at Bahawlpur and 100 kanals for a similar complex at Lodhran. As for judicial complexes at sub-district level, the LHC planning and development wing acquired land at Burewala, Liaquatpur, Ahmadpur Sial, Daska, Kamalia, Chichwatni, Pattoki, Rojhan, Khairpur Tamewali, Alipur, Samundari, Kabirwala and Hasan Abdal, according to the spokesman.

Besides, additional courtrooms and residences for judicial officers are also being built throughout the province in addition to other facilities like sheds for the litigant public, barracks for policemen and ‘bakhshi khanas’ in courts at districts and tehsils for temporary stay of under-trial prisoners.

Improvement of parking lots, establishment of reference libraries and other civic amenities are also part of the development schemes.

The construction of 12 courtrooms at judicial complex in Faisalabad, eight in Sheikhupura, six in Vehari, five in Sahiwal, four in Mandi Bahauddin and three each in Layyah and Rajanpur were the major schemes completed in 2005, the spokesman said.

Besides, construction work would soon begin on three more courtrooms at the LHC in addition to the development of more facilities at the Aiwan-i-Adal at Lahore, the spokesperson said.