ISLAMABAD, Oct 25: The Supreme Court on Saturday announced strict measures to discourage the tendency of adjournments of cases and warned of penal consequences for violating a new set of rules to be followed in letter and in spirit.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad in his order directed strict implementation of the instructions contained in the Proposed Cause List and the Final Cause List which forewarns advocates of not accepting any request made through fax for adjournment on any ground.

As per practice and procedure of the court, proposed cause list is always issued two weeks in advance of the final cause list to help lawyers make adjustments in fixation of their cases. After considering the requests for adjustments, the final cause list is issued on every Friday preceding the hearing week.

A two-page order issued by the chief justice asked the Advocate on Record (AOR) and the party concerned to make alternative arrangements before hand in case an advocate was not appearing before the court on the date and time fixed for a hearing in the Supreme Court.

The order also makes it clear that the violation of the fresh directions would attract penal consequences under the law.

The order also warned that no time would be allowed to the AOR/party concerned to engage a new counsel on the date of hearing, in case the advocate was not available to plead the case.

The order said that advocate engaged as a substitute for the original counsel should also come prepared with the brief as the court would not allow any adjournment to him to get prepared.

The party concerned should also ensure that his counsel comes prepared with the brief as no adjournment would be granted on a situation when the court has already issued notice to the other side at the petition stage and the matter was such which could be disposed of by hearing both parties at the preliminary stage.

The advocate whose cases were fixed in the Supreme Court should also intimate the high court or the lower court concerned in advance, where his cases were pending adjudication, about his engagement in the Supreme Court and should file a certificate to this effect in the Supreme Court so that his cases were not fixed before those courts.

The chief justice also directed circulation of this office order in the normal course, in addition to displaying on the computer network of the court installed in and outside the courtrooms, the public reception as well as the Bar Room.

The order recalled that the advocates were facilitated by the court to move applications for grant of general adjournment for a specified period, if either they are ill or have other genuine reasons preventing them from appearing before the court. While granting general adjournments to the advocates, their cases were also not fixed for hearing during that period.

This exercise was taken, the order said, to enable the advocates to make adjustment of their cases in different courts at different places and ensure that the time of the court was not wasted.