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LAHORE, Sept 26: Chief Justice Iftikhar Husain Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court has directed civil judges across Punjab to eliminate frivolous litigation in the light of the criteria determined by the high court.
Through a circular released to media on Tuesday, the member of the LHC inspection team directed district and sessions judges and senior civil judges in the province to ensure that they did not entertain fresh cases till they were examined in the light of parameters laid down in Chapter I-C of the High Court Rules and Orders Volume I.
The circular said that the civil courts were heavily burdened by frivolous litigation that took the toll of genuine disputes and also added to the cases shown as pending every year. This situation was resulting in the mental and physical suffering of genuine litigants whose cases kept on lingering for years, it said.
The parameters in the chapter, according to the letter, were clear and if fresh cases were examined in their light, the court could get rid of frivolous litigation and reduce the number of pending cases. It directed the subordinate judiciary to set up a separate department to examine the contents of fresh disputes with a view not to burdening civil courts with cases inconsistent with the rules.
ADVISERS’ CASE: The LHC adjourned till Oct 5 the constitutional writ petition which called into question the appointment of advisers to the Punjab government and the chief minister with the contention that the act was unconstitutional.
Maulana Malik Shah Mohammad had primarily challenged the appointment of Mian Mohammad Munir as an adviser on the plea that he was convicted by the Supreme Court along with Tariq Aziz, Akhtar Rasool and six others under the Contempt of Court Ordinance for storming the apex court.
The court subsequently restrained Mian Munir and Akhtar Rasool from working, and directed the chief secretary to withdraw all benefits and other perks attached to their offices.
The court served notices on the advisers, six of whom are advisers to the chief minister, to show cause under what legal authority were they holding the office.
The court required the Punjab law officer to submit as to whether the summons on all the advisers, directing them to appear in person, had been served.
