PHC CJ says bar-bench cordial ties must for justice system

CHITRAL: Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court (PHC) Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan said on Monday that the bar and bench were the two members of the same family whose cordial working relationship benefited the justice system and the litigants at large.

Addressing the lawyers in Lower Chitral here, the chief justice said that he never considered the bar and bench two separate entities and that he had always worked for strengthening the two.

He said that lawyers had a host of problems, which should be resolved on a priority basis.The PHC chief justice said that the people of Chitral were true Pakistanis but poverty and backwardness still existed here in these modern times.

He said that roads and other infrastructure were in a dilapidated condition for which he had strictly directed the National Highway Authority to construct roads and the government later released Rs400 million. However, he said, the pace of work was very slow and substandard.

The PHC chief justice said that deforestation and mining were dangerous and notice had been taken to stop this trend forthwith.He said that a notice had been taken as well to restore the natural shape of the Swat River and other rivers and stop the desilting of rivers and seasonal streams in the province.

The PHC chief justice said that we should leave a pollution-free environment to the next generations, adding that illegal and harmful mining had been banned in the province.He said that a judge of the PHC would come to hear cases here at the circuit bench next week and the lawyers should ensure their attendance to mitigate the sufferings of the litigants.