Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Thursday said that Justice Reforms Project would help to ensure provision of justice to the needy litigants in a certain time. This project was for the litigants who didn’t have access to the high court for justice.

He was addressing a ceremony regarding the launch of the website of Justice Reforms Project in the federal capital. The project would have a steering committee and chief justice, IHC judges and some institutions would be it’s members.

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Jahanzeb Khan, IHC judges, judicial officers, representatives of lawyer bodies and others attended the ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice Athar Minallah said that the injustice with the litigants usually made by revenue offices and police stations, and judiciary was the only option for the people to get justice.

He said even jails were holding way more prisoners than their capacity. Who would be responsible for this injustice if a person was kept in jail for 12 years and then his appeal was accepted, he wondered. Justice Minallah said that the CDA affectees were still waiting for compensations after passing 50 years. Their lands were snatched and big buildings were constructed on it, he said.

He said there was no justice even in judicial system and it might not be a priority of the state as well.

The chief justice said that the district courts were established in shops at commercial areas. The rights of lawyers, judges and litigants were being ruined, he said, adding that it was a good sign that the previous government had laid foundation of district courts’ complex.

Justice Minallah said an effective justice system was necessary to address the problems of public but it should not be dependent on judiciary only. A person approaches the court only with the complaint of injustice.

He further said he had seen a 50 years old case and the petitioner and his wife both had died. The chief justice said that they were aware of the problems but they didn’t have the expertise for institutional reforms. They know that a big part of the population of the country had no access to the justice, he said.

Addressing the seminar, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar said that the whole system was to facilitate the public but it was not practically working. It was the right of the citizens to be given facilities to get timely justice, he said.

He appreciated the efforts of the chief justice IHC for taking this initiative for provision of justice to the needy litigants. The criminal justice system also required reforms for provision of justice to complainants, he added.

The minister said that the project seemed a good step towards the betterment. He said he expected from the bar members that they would take the project in a positive way.

The minister said that the project should be implemented in spirit. He further said it was the mission of the prime minister to facilitate public in their quest for getting justice, adding that the jail reforms were also under consideration.