Zar Alam Khan
ISLAMABAD: People of Chitral are feeling a marked change in dispensation of speedy justice by the local courts after introduction of the judicial reforms by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry with the lower judiciary disposing of cases within the shortest possible time and giving relief to the litigants.
However, experts say until proper arrangements, including appointment of more judges and auxiliary staff, were made, speedy justice in a real term would remain a distant dream as in the past when people remained entangled in petty cases for years.
When asked to comment on visible changes and improvement in dispensation of justice in Chitral after restoration of the chief justice and other judges of the superior judiciary, prominent lawyer and human rights activist of Chitral Syed Ghulam Ali Shah Advocate, who is based in Booni, said the number of judges and their staff in the district remained the same as before but now they are working under stress to dispose of pending cases as directed by the CJP.
The judges are working into late night writing judgments and the same is the case with the lower staff of the courts including the stenos, he added. He said the under the judicial reform, the priority was disposing of pending cases and decreasing the backlog.
When a case is quickly disposed of, it is done so at the cost of justice. In such a situation, neither the adjudicator gets to the bottom of the case nor are lawyers in a position to plead the case thoroughly. At the end of the day, it is the litigant who suffers the most, he added.
He said at present, Chitral has one district and sessions judge, one additional district and sessions judge, who is also designated as izafi zila qazi under the Sharia regulation, and one senior judge (aala ilaqa qazi). Besides, there are three civil judges/judicial magistrates. One civil judge sits in Drosh where the district and sessions judge also holds camp court on a fortnightly basis.
In Subdivision Mastuj, the district and sessions judge Chitral conducts camp court on every Friday and Saturday. Besides, there is one civil judge and one judicial magistrate who normally hear criminal cases, he added. He said under the judicial reform, an additional civil judge would be appointed in a court if the number of cases in the area exceeds 300. At present, there are about 120 pending cases with the civil court of Booni, he added.
He said it was necessary for the government to appoint more judges and staff in courts to ensure provision of speedy justice to the masses. For areas like Chitral where physical accessibility to courts remains a hurdle, it is altogether imperative to extend the network of lower courts and introduce mobile courts so that people get their issues resolved at their doorsteps.