Sir: An online news flashed by a Sindhi national daily reveals that there is a backlog of more than 100 cases pending with the Sindh High Court for the last 50 years. For a speedy trial of the same, the Chief Justice has constituted a special bench to dispose of the cases, but the backlog has not been cleared so far. According to detailed information, the news highlighted the grabbing of Sikander Farooqui’s lands case which has been lingering on in various courts since 1931. The case was filed by his father who died without getting the verdict of the court. After his death, his brother pursued litigation, and he also died. Sikander is also not optimistic about getting justice in his lifetime. Unforgivable delays characterise our justice system. No one involved in the system finds it shocking, because that’s the way it is! Justice must have three qualities — it must be free, for nothing is odious than justice let on sale; it must be full, for justice ought not to limp, or be granted in piecemeal; it must be speedy because delay is a kind of denial. Removing the delays will increase the ability to deliver justice, victims will feel better about it and witnesses will be more likely to give evidence. Lack of timelessness seems to have timeless quality. My friend filed a suit in the Sindh High Court in the year 2002, and it is still lingering on. He is above 75. I wish him a legendary life of Methuselah who lived for 500 years, to get the verdict! During the British Raj, there was no air-conditioning system and as such there were large hand fans fixed to the ceiling. The British Government therefore declared the months of Jun and July as vacation period for courts. Now that the air-conditioning system is there, there is no point to continue the legacy of the British Raj of Sending judges on vacation in the wake of heavy backlog of pending cases. DR K M LARIK Karachi