ISLAMABAD: A lawyer known for pursuing the cases of missing persons, retired Col Inam-ur-Rahiem, has requested Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani and Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar to take notice of and intervene in the transfer of 68 cases pertaining to the armed forces from the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court to its principal seat in the provincial capital.

Mr Rahiem began his 10-page letter to Mr Rabbani, a copy of which he sent to Chief Justice Nisar, thus: “That the undersigned, being an advocate, takes the privilege of approaching this august forum [the Senate] through its chairman regarding the apathy and conduct of the superior judiciary....”

The advocate sent the letter to the Senate chairman in the hope that the issues raised in it would be taken up and debated threadbare in the upper house of parliament, he said.

The 68 cases mentioned in his letter were pending for over two years and the last time these were taken up, only to be adjourned later, was on March 23, even though many applications were filed for their early disposal.

Such a delay was in clear violation of Article X of the notification of the Supreme Judicial Council of Sept 2, 2009, which required that judges would take steps to decide the cases within the shortest possible period by making efforts to prevent delays and minimise the suffering of litigants.

Mr Rahiem’s letter regretted that all the cases had been transferred to Lahore without any prior notice to the parties concerned or their counsel, in violation of Article 198 of the Constitution that deals with the territorial jurisdiction of the high court bench.

The letter also highlighted the recent crisis in which the Rawalpindi and Multan benches of LHC were closed on July 24 and July 28, respectively, because of serious differences between the lawyers and LHC Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.

Even the registry branches of the two benches were closed, although under Article 198(3) of the Constitution, the regional benches established in Multan, Bahawalpur and Rawalpindi could be closed or their operations suspended only through a constitutional amendment, said the letter.

Not even the LHC chief justice had the “authority whatsoever” to close or “suspend” the benches because doing so would amount to a clear violation of the Constitution.

Members of the bar and the bench in Punjab were now divided and on Aug 28 the sessions judges of the province held a meeting at the Judicial Academy, Lahore, to extend full support to the LHC chief justice. The meeting also adopted resolutions critical of the office-bearers of the bar.

Realising how a blatant display of rowdy behaviour would affect the prestige of the legal committee, Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali had also urged, through a letter, the 130 law officers in the country to play their role in easing the crisis.

The letter was written in view of the ugly scenes telecast by television channels when on Aug 22 members of the legal community clashed with law enforcement personnel and forced their way past the judges’ gate at the principal seat of LHC after the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Sher Zaman Qureshi, president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association’s Multan bench.

Mr Rahiem informed the Senate chairman that the lawyers’ protest had entered its third month and the litigants were suffering as courts in the entire south Punjab region were not functioning.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2017