PFC ceremony held at SC building

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Yahya Afridi on Thursday said: “Litigants are the pulse of judicial reforms and every touch point must be respectful, seamless, and located under one roof.”

He was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Public Facilitation Centre held here at the SC building. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, chairman of the Court’s Building Committee, moderated the ceremony in the presence of the CJP, fellow justices, officers from the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the Nespak, and the SC administration.

The chief justice noted that while many services already existed, their dispersion across different wings had burdened the visitors. The Centre will therefore consolidate filing counters, certified-copy desks, information kiosks, and facilitation booths into a single, citizen-centric hall, supported by modern technology integration such as biometric queue management, self-service e-kiosks, and real-time case-status displays. SC Registrar Salim Khan highlighted that the project originated from Justice Mandokhel’s vision to remove physical hurdles and create an accessible interface between the public and the court. Nespak architects presented a brief overview of the design which features barrier-free access, a digital helpdesk, and a comfortable waiting lounge. The CDA has committed itself to establishing a dedicated bus stop and shuttle connection, ensuring smoother transit for the visitors arriving from across the capital. Appreciating the Building Committee’s milestone achievement, the CJP expressed confidence that the Centre would “translate constitutional promises into everyday convenience”, reaffirming the SC resolve to harness technology for faster, fairer, and more transparent justice. He announced that the Public Facilitation Centre was scheduled to be completed within two months, marking one of the fastest civil-works turnarounds in the court history. The construction has begun immediately, with phased service migration planned to minimise any disruption to the ongoing court business, says a press release issued by PRO Dr Shahid Kamboyo.