LHC forms special bench to expedite Pak expats’ cases

LONDON: A three-judge special bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) has been formed to hear the cases of overseas Pakistanis to ensure their expeditious disposal, and it will be headed by Justice Jawad Hassan.

The chief justice of the LHC, Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan, announced the constitution of the bench at a seminar of World Congress of Overseas Pakistanis (WCOP) here, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.

Besides, a monitoring cell under the supervision of Additional Registrar LHC Khalid Saeed Wattoo, will be established to monitor the pending cases at district level.

The objective of the WCOP’s special seminar in London on “Pakistani diaspora and higher judiciary” was to advance and streamline the protection of rights of Pakistanis working and settled abroad and to take measures for speedy decision of their cases so they feel assured and protected regarding their rights and privileges.

This historic decision, the statement said, will encourage more than 10 million overseas Pakistanis to invest in the country with peace of mind. Currently thousands of cases of overseas Pakistanis are pending owing to delaying tactics through stay orders on non-genuine grounds.

WCOP has been campaigning for this initiative since its inception in 2013 as legal empowerment is one of the biggest concerns of the diaspora.

The special bench will deal with all the pending cases pertaining to overseas Pakistanis; besides adjudicating upon the matters falling within the purview of Recognition and Enforcement (Arbitration Agreement and Foreign Arbitral) Act, 2011, precisely under section 2(d) and 3, under a separate cause list.

LHC Chief Justice Shamim Khan applauded the efforts of WCOP for the rights of overseas Pakistanis. He introduced the audience to the web page of Overseas Pakistanis Cell designed on the LHC website and praised the sincere efforts of all stakeholders for providing better remedies and environment to overseas Pakistanis. The LHC chief justice assured his full support for the redressal of the genuine issues and complaints of overseas Pakistanis.

It was also decided that LHC portal and web portal of the Overseas Pakistanis Commission will be linked so that complainants’ data can be shared to address the grievances of Pakistani expatriates.

Speaking on the occasion, Governor Punjab Sarwar Chaudhry praised WCOP’s efforts and described the special appointment of Justice Jawad Hasan for resolving issues of overseas Pakistanis as the historical step, saying the government and the judiciary are on the same page for resolving the grievances of the overseas Pakistanis. The governor said the promise of Prime Minister Imran Khan for ensuring rights to overseas community would be fulfilled, he added.

Justice Jawad Hassan talked about the jurisprudential developments in Pakistan on the rights of overseas Pakistanis and their expansion through information technology i.e. access to justice by one click at the web portal, inaugurated on the day. He assured the audience that the constitution of Pakistan awards all privileges to expatriates “wherever they maybe”.

High Commissioner of Pakistan to UK Mohammad Nafees Zakaria termed the announcement of the special bench a milestone. He exhorted the expatriates to work closely with the respective consulates, embassies and high commissions in a proactive manner to get their problems resolved.

Vice Chairman Overseas Commission Muhammad Waseem Ramay appreciated cooperation of WCOP in coordinating the efforts for the rights of overseas Pakistanis.

Co-chairmen WCOP Syed Qamar Raza and Dr Suhail Chughtai, Executive Director WCOP Arif Anis Malik, and President UK Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Amjid Khan also spoke at the seminar which was attended by a large number of legal experts and community leaders from all over the United Kingdom.