1.6m cases pending before courts: CJP Iftikhar
11 September, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry on Monday said over 1.6 million cases were pending in district and superior courts until August 15. Addressing the New Judicial Year Ceremony, the CJP said, "From 1st January, 2011 to 31st May, 2012, within a period of less than one-and-a-half-year, over 4.1 million fresh cases were instituted in the district as well as superior judiciaries. Thus, despite disposal of more than 4 million cases, the grand total of pending cases jumped to over 1.5 million by 31st May, 2012 and over 1.6 million by 15th August, 2012," he said. Justice Chaudhry said that when the National Judicial Policy was launched on June 1, 2009, about 1.75 million cases were pending in the superior and district courts. Until December 31, 2010, the figure was brought down to about 1.35 million cases, despite institution of more than 3.2 million new cases, he added. Explaining reasons for delay in disposal of cases, he said there was a shortage of judicial officers at district level. "Presently there are 177, 87, 102, 103 and 79 posts of judicial officers lying vacant in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Islamabad Capital Territory respectively," the CJP said. To meet the said requirement, an additional budget of Rs 16.08 million, Rs 8.18 million, Rs 5.03 million and Rs 1.52 million was required for the high courts of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan respectively. However, there is no positive response from the federal or provincial governments in this regard. End.
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