Government boosts judges’ house rent, allowances

ISLAMABAD: The federal government Thursday increased the house rent and judicial allowance of superior judiciary judges.

According to a notification issued by Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar, a copy of which is available with Geo News, the house rent of Supreme Court judges has been increased from Rs68,000 to Rs350,000.

“In the Supreme Court Judges (Leave, Pension and Privileges) Order, 1997, hereinafter referred to as the said Order, in paragraph 20, in sub-paragrapgh (2), for the words “sixty eight thousand”, the words “three hundred fifty thousand” shall be substituted.

Similarly, the superior judicial allowance of the judges has also been increased from Rs428,040 to Rs1,161,163.“ In the said Order, in paragraph 22, for the words ‘four hundred twenty-eight thousand forty’, the words ‘one million one hundred sixty-one thousand one hundred sixty-three’ shall be substituted.” The notification was issued after approval by Acting President Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani.

Likewise, the government also increased the house rent and judicial allowances of the high court judges. According to the notification, the house rent has been increased from Rs65,000 to Rs350,000 and the judicial allowance from Rs342,431 to Rs1,090,000.

Meanwhile, chairing a meeting of the administrative judges of anti-terrorism courts (ATC) at the Supreme Court, the chief justice called for a swift and coordinated action to address the infrastructure and resource needs of Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs) to ensure timely and fair outcomes of cases. It also reviewed the performance and took stock of key challenges to ensure swift dispensation of justice in anti-terrorism cases.

The meeting was attended by monitoring judges from the Supreme Court Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail (via video link), Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan, monitoring judges of ATCs and prosecutors generals from all provinces and ICT. He reminded the participants of the immense responsibility to dispensing justice, urging them to uphold the law, impartially and without fear or favor. It was disclosed that a total of 2,273 ATC cases were currently pending in Pakistan, with a significant portion — 1,372 cases — awaiting resolution in Sindh alone.

The chief justice expressed concern over the backlog and emphasized expediting them to ensure justice was not delayed. Key challenges including: ensuring adequate security for witnesses, facilitating their online appearances, establishing and enhancing Forensic Scientific Laboratories (FSL) to support evidence-based decisions, creating additional ATC courts to manage high caseloads effectively.

The chief justice directed the Forensic Scientific Lab (FSL), Sindh to extend help for operationalization of FSL labs in Quetta. He further directed that the ATC judges completing their term should be accommodated on soft positions. The outperforming ATC judges must be accommodated in foreign trainings with the support of Law & Justice Commission of Pakistan, he said. He asked desired the attorney general along with the prosecutor generals of each province, to take up these issues with their respective governments.

Meanwhile, following his commitment to improve service delivery and access to justice, the chief justice initiated diagnostic study for design and execution of short and medium-term strategic interventions to focus on reduction of cases backlog.

According to the press release a dedicated team of professionals from various fields, with passion to work pro bono will finalize a workable reform plan. They would reduce cases backlog by exploiting available resources and the existing legal framework. “Prioritization of cases involving marginalized segments of the society and high impact cases would be the key feature of the reform interventions,” the press release added.

Meanwhile during a high-level strategic meeting the CJP Justice Yahya Afridi expressed concern over the adverse effects of delayed tax litigation on judicial efficiency and national revenue. Top officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), prominent tax experts, industrialists, FBR chairman, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan and secretaries Law and Finance Divisions attended the meeting. Supreme Court registrar, secretary Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP), representatives of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OICCI) and members from both the treasury and opposition political parties, including Saleem Mandviwalla and Mohsin Aziz, also attended the meeting.

The chief justice highlighted that 3,496 cases involving a revenue of Rs97 billion were pending adjudication by Supreme Court of Pakistan. Justice Afridi asked the stakeholders to take steps to stop needless fiscal litigation before the Supreme Court. He also emphasized the need to curtail the practice of prolonging the tax cases through granting unnecessary stays and adjournments. The chief justice stressed that the government and bar need, to join hands and play an active role in addressing the huge backlog. He sought active assistance from the bar and invited recommendations for fixation of tax cases to achieve swift resolution.

Similarly, the chief justice also emphasised the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms in fiscal cases.

The Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan presented a framework for a Resolution Strategy aligned with the global best practices to optimize tax case resolution for fiscal cases. The key components include the stakeholders’ engagements, structured measures to enhance the efficacy of tax case resolution on fiscal cases and formation of a high-level committee. The terms of reference (ToRs) proposed for the committee are to evaluate current practices, integrate successful global strategies, employ ADR methods, engage key stakeholders, enhance FBR’s legal capabilities and finalize TORs to guide efficient resolution of tax cases.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan constituted a committee comprising Muhammad Salim Khan (Supreme Court Registrar), tax experts Asim Zulfiqar Ali and Imtiaz Ahmed Khan, and a senior FBR representative. It will receive support from Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan and secretary finance, Sher Shah Khan (Tax Expert) will serve as committee coordinator. The committee will make recommendations for justice sector reforms for swift resolution of fiscal cases.