ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: Seven more judges joined the district and sessions division 'East' of the federal capital on Thursday.

Earlier, on Jan 20, six judges were inducted in the sessions division 'East' and with the recent induction, the total strength of the judicial officer in the division has become thirteen.

After induction of theses judges, the litigants of Rawat, Sihala, Koral, Tarlai, Bara Kahu, Soan, Kurri, Phulgran, Ojri and Malpur would have speedy disposal of the cases.

According to Javed Akbar Shah, President Islamabad Bar Association, the expansion in lower judiciary would also bring ease to the over-burdened judges. He demanded that the government should allocate a sector specifically for the lower judiciary, as the existing setup or the actual building of district courts at G-10 where currently IHC is housed, would not be sufficient for the future requirements of the lower judiciary.

It may be pertinent to mention here that the sessions division 'West' also has 14 judges including a district and sessions judge, three additional district and sessions judges, a senior civil judge and nine civil judges.

According to the IHC letter, Mahmood Haroon Khan, a judicial officer from Punjab, has been repatriated after he was promoted to additional district and sessions judge and on his place, Shah Rukh Arjumand of KP judicial service has been appointed as senior civil judge 'West'.

Meanwhile, IHC Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman also nominated Muhammad Bashir, a district and sessions judge from KP judicial service as judge of Accountability Court-I of Islamabad Capital Territory.

Sources in the judiciary said the post of accountability judge had been lying vacant since Oct 27, 2010 and the law ministry had requested the IHC to nominate at least six judges for the single post of accountability judge. In view of the shortage of judges, IHC chief justice nominated only one judge for the said post.