ISLAMABAD, Oct 19: More than 15,000 cases are pending with the district courts from 1986 to October 15, 2003, said a report sent by the district and sessions judge to the chief justice of Lahore High Court here on Saturday.

The Lahore High Court Chief Justice Mr Justice Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain has called the final reports of the cases pending with the subordinate courts.

According to the report, about 8,412 cases, including 5,303 civil cases, 1181 execution cases, 373 family cases, 137 succession cases, 49 land execution cases, 135 cases of guardianship and 1,240 others cases are pending with the civil courts, while 5,796 cases including 2,022 criminal cases, 3,733 criminal class I, 24 bail and 17 others cases are pending with the judicial magistrate court. Similarly, 1,015 cases including 62 murder cases, 70 Hudood cases, 89 criminal appeal cases, 118 special cases, 109 bail cases, 332 civil appeal cases, 33 execution cases, 33 execution appeal cases, 157 criminal appeal cases and 52 others are pending with the sessions courts.

The district courts were established in 1980 and the pending cases were reported from 1986 onwards.

Two of the main causes of backlog, according to the report, were delay in release of orders by the superior courts and shortage of judges in the district courts. The shortage of judges is causing a lot of discomfort to the people, a source close to the judicial high-ups told this reporter.

At present, he said, only five judges were working in the district courts and each of them was hearing 110 to 130 cases daily. He said it was impossible to hear more than 100 cases in a day and added that these judges with the help of their readers were giving next dates to the people and only disposing of those cases that pertained to bail application and physical and judicial remand.

The source said the district and sessions judge had frequently sent summaries to the federal government about shortage of judges but no measure had been taken in this regard.

The source said the district courts needed six more judges to ensure speedy dispensation of justice. He said thousands of the pending cases were of trivial nature and could be disposed of in one or two hearings to lessen the burden on the courts.