LAHORE, Oct 10 Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry presided over a meeting of Access to Justice Development Fund governing body on Saturday which directed the chief secretaries to designate underdeveloped regions in their respective provinces within one month for funds allocation.

The funds for less developed regions will be utilised for establishment of courts, provision of infrastructure, court equipment, provision of legal aid, legal empowerment, judicial research and legal education in such areas.

The meeting was attended by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Tariq Pervez Khan, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Balochistan Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Law & Justice Secretary Justice (retd) Riaz Kayani, Finance Secretary Salman Siddique and Law & Justice Commission of Pakistan secretary/Register Supreme Court Dr Faqir Hussain.

The governing body deliberated on agenda items pertaining to project proposals under various windows of the Fund.

The body minutely examined the recommendations of the Technical Evaluation Committee regarding various schemes for legal empowerment of people, including provisions of legal aid and assistance to the needy, judicial innovation as well as legal education. Such schemes were received from all over the country.

The body considered the projects received from all over the country and approved nine of them for release of funds subject to fulfillment of some conditions.

It was decided that the secretariat of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan will carryout the background study to verify the authenticity of an organisation before release of funds to it.

Certain projects were deferred for further consideration while others were dropped. The body approved project proposal of the Sustainable Community Development Organization, Quetta, Balochistan, while those of Society for Human Assistance and Development were rejected. The project submitted by Assist Prof Amannullah Shah was deferred for further clarification.

The body approved the transfer of funds to the District Legal Empowerment Committee, headed by the district and sessions judge, which included district coordination officer, jail superintendent and bar president as its members.

The Committee is to allocate funds for legal aid to the litigants who have suffered injustice and the aggrieved who approach the judicial forum for remedy, but cannot arrange the court and lawyer's fees.