ISLAMABAD: The judges in the federal capital decided more than 133,816 cases over the past year whereas the number of pending trials in these courts, including the Islamabad High Court, is 68,663 as of Dec 31, 2023.

On the other hand, as many as 134,019 new cases were lodged in the high court and two divisions of the sub-ordinate judiciary, namely East and West divisions. In the eight-member high court led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, the judges disposed of 11,170 cases from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2023. 16,993 cases were pending on Dec 31, 2023, and 11,027 cases were filed in the IHC last year.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq decided 1529 cases, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani 1571, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb 1193, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri 1079, Justice Babar Sattar 790, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan 963, Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir 1134, and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz decided 605 cases.

Meanwhile, Sessions Division West decided 78,991 cases. Its pendency in 2023 was 29,512, whereas 80,403 new cases were filed from Jan to Dec 2023. Likewise, Sessions Division East decided 43,655 cases while 22,158 cases were already pending. 42,589 new cases were filed in this division during the last year. Last year, the IHC took several steps for the swift disposal of the cases and established mediation centers for alternate dispute resolutions. It also focused on automation and digitisation.

About 68,000 lawsuits pending; 134,019 new cases lodged

At the inaugural ceremony of the mediation centre, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said that after becoming the CJ, he wanted to reduce the backlog and over the past one and a half years, he made efforts to achieve this goal. He said that the court managed the training of 60 mediators and made rules, but “what we have to achieve is the change in mindsets”. He said that the world was moving towards the ADR, but Pakistan was still following conventional adjudication methodology.

According to him, the conventional litigant has apprehension about mediation as they “think it would not be as legitimate as a court of law”. He stressed the need to create awareness among the masses that this system was at par with the judicial forum and was less time-consuming and inexpensive.

The IHC administration last year has also devised internal automation which includes a Management Information System (MIS), a Case Flow Management System (CFMS), and automation from the institution of cases to their disposal. The automation also includes the establishment of online/e-courts with video links and live streaming facilities, an official website and mobile application, SMS, email and WhatsApp alert service, e-kiosk application, lawyers cause list, and a human rights/complaint cell. Another key feature of the programme is the bar’s integration with the district judiciary and the IHC.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2024