Pakistan’s first commercial court inaugurated in Lahore

Published June 6, 2021
Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmad said the progress of a society was linked to the implementation of the law. — Photo courtesy Ease of Doing Business Punjab Twitter
Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmad said the progress of a society was linked to the implementation of the law. — Photo courtesy Ease of Doing Business Punjab Twitter

LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmad inaugurated the country’s first commercial court here at Lahore Judicial Complex on Saturday.

Commercial courts are crucial for progress of the country’s economy, said the chief justice in his address. He said the establishment of the first commercial court in Punjab was a revolutionary step for which he congratulated Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muham­mad Qasim Khan. He said the cases relating to businesses needed to be decided without delay as they had an indirect effect on the economy.

The provincial government following a process of consultation with the LHC promulgated the Punjab Co­mmercial Courts Ordin­ance of 2021 under ease-of-doing business reform frame­work to establish the commercial courts.

Later, speaking at a launch ceremony of “Citators of Civil & Criminal Law,” CJP Ahmad said the progress of a society was linked to the implementation of the law. He said it was a matter of pride that the courts continued to work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

LHC Chief Justice Khan said he had many projects on his priority list when he assumed office. He said some projects had been completed, however, a few faced a delay due to the pandemic.

He hoped that the commercial court would deliver good decisions to make the judiciary proud. He hailed the performance of the district judiciary of Punjab saying the courts disposed of more cases in 2020 than 2019 despite the pandemic.

As per a research paper of the LHC, efficient contract enforcement is essential to economic development and sustained growth. An overall enhancing the efficiency of the judicial system can improve the business climate, foster innovation, attract foreign direct investment and secure tax revenues.

The LHC under the guidance of Chief Justice Khan and Justice Jawad Hassan led the initiative on designating judges in civil courts for cognizance of commercial cases. It said such initiatives would immensely facilitate the litigants. The ranking of Pakistan for enforcing contracts indicator is also expected to improve.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Defining extremism
Updated 18 Mar, 2024

Defining extremism

Redefining extremism may well be the first step to clamping down on advocacy for Palestine.
Climate in focus
18 Mar, 2024

Climate in focus

IN a welcome order by the Supreme Court, the new government has been tasked with providing a report on actions taken...
Growing rabies concern
18 Mar, 2024

Growing rabies concern

DOG-BITE is an old problem in Pakistan. Amid a surfeit of public health challenges, rabies now seems poised to ...
Provincial share
Updated 17 Mar, 2024

Provincial share

PPP has aptly advised Centre to worry about improving its tax collection rather than eying provinces’ share of tax revenues.
X-communication
17 Mar, 2024

X-communication

IT has now been a month since Pakistani authorities decided that the country must be cut off from one of the...
Stateless humanity
17 Mar, 2024

Stateless humanity

THE endless hostility between India and Pakistan has reduced prisoners to mere statistics. Although the two ...