FAISALABAD, July 17: The district and sessions judge has sought an explanation from some 24 subordinate judges for ignoring his orders pertaining to preparation of lists of cases lying pending in their courts, Dawn has learnt on Sunday.

Sources said D&SJ Ishtiaq Ahmed on the direction of the Lahore High Court had asked the subordinate judges on Saturday to stay in their courts after duty hours to prepare the lists of the pending cases. The weekly off had already been cancelled by the apex court for this purpose.

The Supreme Court’s initiative is aimed at eliminating corruption from lower courts.

However, during a surprise visit to different courts on Saturday night, the D&SJ found eight additional district and sessions judges and 16 civil judges absent.

Upon this, the sources said, the judge got issued notices to the absent judges and sought an explanation from them for their act.

Sources said the notice mentioned that a clear direction was given that judicial officers should not leave their courtrooms without seeking prior permission and should get the pending cases’ lists prepared as per the format provided by the high court.

“I visited courts at 7pm to monitor and ensure the progress in this regard. Unfortunately, the following officers were found absent from the courtrooms and chambers without leave. They have showed indiscipline and I feel there that there is insensitivity to the duty on their part,” the sources quoted the notice’s contents.

A copy of the notice has also been forwarded to the LHC registrar, they added.

All the judicial officers had also been asked to explain their position on July 17 at 10am as to why they showed indiscipline and insubordination and flouted the directions, the source said.

The additional judges who were issued notice include Zulfiqar Khan Nasir, Aqil Hassan Chuhan, Ms Lubna Ali, Malik Khizar Hayyat, Asad Ali, Tariq Mehmood Bajwa, Abdul Rahman Bodla and Rehan Bashir. While the civil judges asked to explain their position are: Azhar Ali Jaffari, Shahid Nawaz Kichi, Ijaz Ahmed Bosal, Haris Ali, Mohammad Amjad Khan, Sajawal Khan, Atif Bin Saeed, Imran Shabbir Awan, Usman Ghani, Shafqat Abbas Maghiana, Mohammad Rizwan, Mudassar Hussain Awan, Syed Adnan Mehdi and judicial magistrate Shafiq Ahmed Shafiq of Tandlianwala.

However, none of these judges had replied to the notice so far, the sources added.

Meanwhile, all court staff remained present in their offices on Sunday for preparation of the lists sought by the high court.

The sources added that on being informed of the notice, the absent judges held a meeting to discuss the issue.

A team comprising an LHC judge and a representative of the Supreme Court had visited the district courts three days ago to inspect the record of decided as well as pending cases. The team members reportedly expressed their concern over poor maintenance of the record.

The district has about 51 judges --- 16 additional district and sessions judges and 35 civil and judicial magistrates.

District bar association secretary general Haris Amin told Dawn that corrupt judges should be shown the door and the judiciary must be purged of such elements.

He said the bar had a clear stance against corruption and it would back Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary to make the courts corruption-free.