ISLAMABAD: The government is planning to introduce a new law under which filers of frivolous petitions would have to bear the cost of the litigation, the National Assembly standing committee on law and justice was informed on Monday.

However, Barrister Zafarullah Khan, the adviser to the prime minister on law, told the committee: “We feel that there is resistance not only from lawyers but also from the judiciary against the proposed Cost of Litigation Bill.”

At a meeting chaired by Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk, the committee considered several bills, including those related to the office of the attorney general, increasing the number of judges in the Supreme Court and allocating a quota for women judges in the apex court.

The committee also discussed an amendment to the ‘Central Law Officers’ law. The amendments related to changing the nomenclature of the additional attorneys general and deputy attorneys general and barring them from private practice.

PM’s adviser on law says lawyers and judiciary resisting proposed ‘Cost of Litigation Bill’

Barrister Zafarullah Khan told the committee that the additional attorneys general represented the federal government in Supreme Court and the high courts while the deputy attorneys general pursued government cases in the high courts or the lower judiciary.

“There are around 130 of them across the country whereas their salary is Rs150,000 per month which is less compared to the workload.”

However, he added that after the proposed ‘Cost of Litigation Bill’ is approved, almost 80pc of the workload would decrease and the focus would be on the quality of work.

“When the workload is decreased, we will be able to employ less manpower and pay them more in the same budget,” the adviser maintained.

He explained that under this law the cost incurred by the government or any entity would have to be borne by the person filing the frivolous case.

His views were supported by the committee and MNA Raza Hayat Hiraj criticised the bar councils and the judiciary for spending too much time on frivolous cases.

“The complaints against the utility bills or improper road construction etc., should go to the ombudsman office but the courts are wasting too much time on such cases. This situation also supports the lawyers,” Mr Hiraj said, adding: “An attempt was also made earlier but there was pressure from the judiciary against the move.”

The members of the committee decried the current practice by some lawyers who filed cases under the ‘public interest litigation’ most of which eventually led to the wastage of time.

The chairman of the committee expressed support for the bill and said currently judges imposed a fine of Rs10,000 or Rs20,000 on the filer of such a useless case but in the process the other party might have lost Rs10 million to Rs20 million.

The committee unanimously approved the amendment to the ‘Central Law Officers’ law but rejected two other bills on the agenda.

These included increasing the number of judges in the Supreme Court which was rejected by all the members except MNA Ayesha of Jamaat-i-Islami who said the higher number of judges would reduce the workload.

But, unexpectedly, Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk and almost all the members said the apex court was more busy in making headlines than giving judgments that can be studied and quoted in the future. Ali Mohammad Khan Advocate and Dr Arif Alvi of the PTI called for streamlining systems in the lower judiciary.

The matter of allocating a quota for women as judges in the Supreme Court was rejected on the ground that it would lead to a decline in quality and expertise. But the committee called upon the government to encourage women judges of high courts to strive for becoming the apex court’s judges. The committee also discussed the salary package of MNAs and suggested that it should be implemented as per the law.

“The law says that the grade of the MNA is equivalent to the federal secretary’s and a lieutenant general’s,” Raza Hayat Hiraj told the committee. “But our salary is limited to Rs34,000 only, which is unfair.”

The members said their major expenditures were food and snacks for guests coming from their native areas.

It was decided that the matter would be taken up with the finance minister by member of the committee, Shagufta Jumani.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2016