KARACHI: Family courts in three districts of Karachi — south, west and east — were not working because there were no judges to run them, said Sindh Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Nisar Ahmed Khuhro on Monday.

He was responding to queries during question hour about the department of law at the Sindh Assembly on Monday. The session was chaired by speaker Agha Siraj Durrani.

Mr Khuhro, who was responding on behalf of the chief minister who also held the portfolio of law since the CM was not present at that time, said in answer to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf legislator Khurram Sherzaman that out of 24 districts in the province, family courts were working in 21. The three districts where the courts were not working were; Karachi south, west and east, he said.

He said that he could not say since when the courts had been vacant or when judges would be posted to run the courts. Most of the courts in the metropolis were working on the same premises and not in their respective areas as whenever the government made a move to relocate them lawyers thwarted its plans.

They probably did not want to move from one court to the other located away from each other in different areas but litigants suffered as many of them had to come from far off places, he said.

The minister said that there were separate officials for family courts but because of lack of separate buildings and infrastructure the courts were functioning, across the province, on the same premises which also housed sessions courts and civil courts.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement legislator Heer Soho said that if the family courts were located on the same premises where terrorists and other criminals were also brought for trial, it could prove to be stressful for women and children to have to sit beside terrorists and criminals.

The minister agreed with the legislator and said there should have been separate premises for family courts but since terrorists and criminals were always handcuffed and under watchful eyes of police there was no threat.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2016