The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ruled that all executive and judicial authorities, including the high courts across Pakistan, were bound to act upon its directions under Article 187 of the Constitution.
“Under Article 187 of the Constitution, the SC possesses the authority to issue such directions, orders, or decrees as may be necessary for doing complete justice in any case or matter pending before it. This constitutional power obligates all executive and judicial authorities, including the High Courts, throughout Pakistan to act upon the directions of the SC to ensure effective implementation of statutory mandates for the purpose of regulating judicial process”, says a 5-page judgement authored by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.
The observations came while hearing a matter in which directions were sought for completion of a complaint filed under the Illegal Dispossession Act, 2005, within the period of 60 days.
A division bench comprising Justice Mandokhail and Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan said Article 187 empowered the SC to issue such directions, orders, or decrees as might be necessary for doing complete justice in any case or matter pending before it.
The bench noted that the complaint in the case had been filed in 2016, whereas Section 5(2) of the Illegal Dispossession Act, 2005 required proceedings to be concluded within 60 days of the trial court taking cognisance of the complaint.
However, the trial court did not perform its statutory obligation, the judgment said.
“It is, therefore, the constitutional responsibility of the SC to issue appropriate directions to that court, as well as to all courts across the country exercising jurisdiction under the Act, to ensure that they adhere to the following instructions, in addition to the procedure prescribed by the Act,” the order stated.
The court directed that every trial court seized of a complaint under the Act, upon taking cognisance, should complete proceedings within the 60-day timeframe specified under Section 5(2) and maintain a day-to-day order sheet of proceedings accordingly.
It further ordered that where a trial cannot proceed on a scheduled date, the trial court must specifically record sufficient reasons for the delay in the order sheet.