Efforts on to ensure swift justice for poor: SHC CJ

The chief justice of the Sindh High Court, Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, on Friday said efforts were afoot to ensure provision of expeditious justice to all litigants, especially those incarcerated or from a low-income background, and hoped that all appeals pending since 2016 would be disposed of by the end of this year.

In his address at the 2nd National Judicial Conference, organised by the Justice Helpline and the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA), the SHC CJ acknowledged that acquiring justice in the country was a costly and tedious process. However, he observed that it was the judiciary’s responsibility to look for ways through which people could be provided speedy and inexpensive access to justice.  

“Since March 2017, pending cases have been swiftly decided and this can be gauged by the fact that if 200 cases were being lined up for hearings, almost 600 cases were being disposed of,” said the high court chief justice.  Despite the considerable progress, Justice Sheikh said he was still not satisfied with the pace at which cases were being dealt. 

The chief justice said that performances of institutions such as educational and healthcare institutions responsible for facilitating the public was not up to par and that funds paid to them by the government were being pocketed by a few corrupt individuals. “One should call a spade a spade, come what may!” the SHC CJ observed. 

Criticising the state of affairs of the provincial education department, he questioned the credibility of teachers who were appointed on political whims. “In Sindh, there exist schools where only one teacher is available for 700 students, while most of the teachers are drawing salaries sitting at home.” 

Praising the Justice Helpline’s efforts, the chief justice of the high court said institutions play a vital role in a nation’s development and if all stakeholders play their due roles, all issues can be resolved instantaneously. He again urged lawyers to do all they can to ensure speedy provision of justice to all litigants.

Former federal as well as provincial attorney general, Anwar Mansoor Khan, in his address, noted that there has been a substantial decrease in the number of pending cases. Nevertheless, he stressed on the need for lawyers to cooperate with judges and courts to ensure litigants are provided swift justice.

SHCBA President Shahab Sarki also eulogised efforts rendered by Justice Helpline to facilitate petitioners belonging to low-income groups and asked lawyers to also help poor litigants by providing them assistance free of charge. President Justice Helpline Nadeem Sheikh walked the audience through actions taken by the organisation.

Requesting Justice Sheikh to allow establishing a research centre for media persons so as to build their capacity and provide them information in an organised manner, the president stated that doing so would help spread the message of justice to a layman more effectively.

Karachi Bar Association President Naeem Qurehshi, former CEO of TDAP, SM Munir, chairman organising committee and Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s standing committee on minorities, Atam Parkash, advocate Asim Iqbal and others also spoke on the occasion.