KARACHI: Sindh High Court Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh on Monday established a model criminal trial court in each judicial district of the province for timely disposal of old murder and narcotics cases.

According to a statement issued by the SHC, consequent to the decision of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee, the model criminal trial courts were being set up keeping in view articles 37(d) and 10-A of the Constitution.

The status of model court has been assigned to the court of first additional district and sessions judge across the province apart from Tando Mohammad Khan, where the district and sessions judge will preside over such a court, it added.

The statement further said that these were time-bound criminal courts and their objective was to deal with old murder and narcotics cases on a day-to-day basis and these matters would be decided within three months.

In order to confer the powers to deal with narcotics cases, wherever necessary, the federal and provincial governments have been asked to do the needful enabling the model courts to try such cases expeditiously.

The SHC also asked the district and sessions judges to gradually transfer such cases to the model courts for trial, adding that the chief justice desired that in the next phase, the concept of model courts would be extended further for civil, family and rent matters as well as the cases falling in other categories by establishing such courts. One more model court in each district of Sindh is also likely to be launched in the near future, it concluded.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2019