KHAIRPUR, Feb 25: The acting Chief Election Commissioner and Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, has appreciated efforts being made by the Supreme Court to ensure speedy disposal of cases to reduce the backlog.

He was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the district court complex and the oath taking ceremony of newly-elected office-bearers of the District Bar Association on Saturday.

He said that in January, the Supreme Court had disposed of more than 3,746 cases and only 415 new cases had been registered at its main registry in Islamabad and branch registries in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta. He said the number of cases pending in the court had been brought down to 18,466 from 22,212 cases on Dec 31, 2005.

He said the existing backlog of cases would be reduced to a few hundreds in a few months if the court continued to dispose of cases with the current speed.

He said the Chief Justice of Pakistan had also urged the lower judiciary as well as chief justices and judges of high courts to quicken the process of disposal of cases so that agonies of the common man could be minimized.

Talking about the judicial complex in Khairpur, he said with the completion of the building, he said judicial officers would have offices and court rooms and there would be spacious bar room for the District Bar Association.

He hoped that the judicial complex would help enhance the efficiency of judicial officers, their staff and lawyers. He said it would also provide a clean, comfortable and conducive working environment.

He said DBA president Sher Mohammad Shaikh in his welcome speech had referred to establishment of a lawyers colony and shifting of a banking court and an ATA court from Sukkur to Khairpur. He said he would take up the matter with the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court.

Earlier, Justice Dogar was briefed about construction of the complex. He was informed that the complex would be completed in one and a half years at a cost of Rs36.5 million.