PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim on Saturday called upon the judiciary in the merged districts to take special care of the litigant public to ensure expeditious and just disposal of their cases.

The chief justice along with judges/members of the administration committee of the PHC chaired a meeting on Case Management Policy (CMP) with the district and sessions judges of Kohat, Hangu and Orakzai districts.

Judicial officers of the three districts, members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, the president of PHC Bar Association as well as presidents and general secretaries of district and tehsil bar associations attended the meeting.

PHC’s registrar Ikhtiar Khan elaborated the agenda of the meeting.

Holds meeting on case management policy with district judges

Additional registrar (administration) Mamrez Khan explained the manifest vision of the chief justice to reduce the backlog of cases and ensure impartial, effective and corruption-free justice.

Kohat district judge Sofia Waqar Khattak presented the data regarding institution, pendency and disposal of cases, which showed that there were total 11,284 cases pending as of June 30, 2024.

She added the institution versus disposal of cases ratio stood at 123.81%. She said there were total 212 UTP cases and 166 family court cases.

District judge Orakzai Syed Obaidullah Shah informed the meeting that total 435 cases were pending for disposal as of July 24. He added there were 18 UTP cases, out of which only four cases were older than one year, and only two family cases were pending. Moreover, he said 18 cases of juveniles and two of gender-based violence were pending at the district courts.

Similarly, Hangu district judge Hayat Gul presented the cases data, which showed that there were total 1,563 cases as of June 30, 2024 with 50, 32, and 91 UTP, juvenile, and family cases pending, respectively.

The PHC chief justice was urged to order establishment of a circuit bench of the high court in the Kohat division.

The need for imparting refresher courses/training on subjects like ethics, morality and professionalism was also discussed.

Justice Ibrahim said as the KP Judicial Academy could not accommodate such trainings on a large scale, the district and sessions judges, the KP Bar Council and the district bar associations should arrange such trainings within their respective districts.

While concluding the session, senior puisne judge Justice Ijaz Anwar emphasised on eradication of corruption and malpractices within judiciary.

Justice Ibrahim in his concluding remarks extended full cooperation of the PHC to the district judiciary as well as bar members.

He stated that such meetings would help formulate a case management policy for effective dispensation of justice.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2024