Importance of district courts can’t be ruled out: SHC CJ

Says judicial complex with 200 courts soon to be established in city

Emphasising the importance of district courts, the chief justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC) said on Wednesday that a judicial complex housing 200 courts would soon be established in Karachi.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Jinnah auditorium at the city courts, CJ Sajjad Ali Shah said the importance of district courts could not be ruled out, adding that a judicial complex would soon be established to facilitate litigants and lawyers alike.

Shah said the district judiciary was an important organ of the judiciary where cases are either made or broken.

Pointing towards lack of infrastructure in district courts, he ensured that a judicial complex comprising 200 courts would soon be established.

For young lawyers, he stressed the need of discipline and hard work in their respective fields. He admitted that lawyers had to brave financial difficulties in the earlier days of their careers, and asked them to observe patience and endeavour to acquire the best of professional skills.

Earlier, he had inaugurated the Jinnah auditorium. Senior SHC judge Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi also inaugurated the consultation hall. Karachi Bar Association President Mehmood-ul-Hasan also spoke on the occasion.

On November 24 CJ Shah had said 30 judges had been removed from service on charges of corruption and misconduct.

He vowed that the exercise would continue until corruption was eradicated from the judicial system of the province.

Addressing the annual dinner reception of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA), the chief justice said the judiciary had ensured self-accountability in its system.

However, he added, the performance of the judicial system and dispensation of justice could not be satisfactory without an independent and strong bar.

He urged the legal fraternity to develop a system to initiate proceedings against those lawyers who are involved in professional misconduct, as only few people were responsible for bringing a bad name to the judicial system.

Highlighting the details of the performance of the judiciary, he said the high court had disposed of 31,000 cases during 2016, which was more than the litigation filed during the year.

He said the district and subordinate judiciary had decided 258,685 cases during the year against the institution of 241,000 cases, and presently 120,000 cases were pending in the district judiciary.

He said the bench and the bar were two sides of the same coin, adding that if one side was ineffective, then expectation of better results from the other side would be meaningless.

The CJ thanked the legal fraternity for aiding in the recovery of his son Owais Ali Shah, who was abducted from the Defence Housing Authority area this June.

He said 150 judicial officers had been appointed in the district judiciary while five more judges would be elevated to the SHC, which would help reduce the backlog of cases, besides a requisition was to be made for increasing the strength of judges of the high court.