Daily Times

Chief Justice Peshawar High Court (PHC) Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim along with Judge(s)/Members of the Administration Committee chaired a meeting on Case Management Policy for District Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan and Swabi.

The meeting was attended by the District and Sessions Judge(S), the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council Members, besides President(s) and senior Lawyers of the four districts, as well as Tehsil Bar Associations, said a press release issued here on Saturday.

Registrar Peshawar High Court Ikhtiar Khan briefly elaborated the agenda of the meeting which was to discuss the total number of institution, pendency and disposal of cases in the four districts, the working strength and vacant positions of Judicial Officers, as well as the factors affecting the dispensation of justice in the four major (central) districts of the province.

He emphasized that identification of lacunas in the Justice System will help in formulating an effecting ?Case Management Policy?. Opening the proceedings, District and Sessions Judge Nowshera Muhammad Asif Khan enlightened the forum that three posts of Civil Judges were vacant. While explaining the pendency of cases, he added that there were 5214 cases pending at the Sessions level whereas pendency at the Civil Courts in District Nowhsera stands at 8946 cases. The pending UTP Cases are 188, whereas Juvenile and Gender Based Violence pendency stands at 8 cases and 111 cases respectively at District Courts Nowshera, he added.

Justice Muhammad Asif Khan highlighted that there were 1452 old cases pending which were instituted before 31-12-2020. He further added that the institution vs disposal ratio for the month of June, 2024 stood at 131.69 percent.

The District and Sessions Judge Charsadda Muhammad Asif informed that the total pendency at Sessions level and Civil Courts was 5314 and 6588 cases, respectively. He also mentioned that total 402 UTP cases were pending and highlighted that the institution vs disposal ratio for the month of May 2024 stands at 117.19 percent.

The District and Sessions Judge Mardan Mohammad Zeb Khan informed that four posts of Civil Judges were vacant. He added that there were total of 23070 cases pending whereas disposal stood at 5772 cases, as of June, 2024. The District and Sessions Judge pointed out certain challenges they have been facing like non-connectivity between headquarter and tehsil courts, non-provision of videolink facility between Tehsil Takht Bhai and Katlang, non-availability of Revenue Record Cell.

He also shared the initiatives taken to reduce pendency like separation of Criminal and Civil Courts at Sessions Level, establishment of Jail Vigilance Committee, application of Probation and Parole Act 2021 in Narcotics cases, besides various smart practices and capacity uplift initiatives have been undertaken for effective administration of justice.

The District and Sessions Judge Swabi Ashfaque Taj informed that the total 12728 cases were pending out of which 361 are UTP cases. He also shared certain challenges being faced like frequent adjournments sought by senior lawyers, strikes by lawyers, shortage of judicial officers as four posts of Civil Judges are vacant. The Chief Justice after the presentations by the District and Sessions Judges, invited the Senior Lawyers for their valuable suggestions. The Chief Justice emphasized that such meetings and liaison with the Bar would help in dispensation of justice as well as in formulating a policy for effective Case Management.