Mushrraf after getting rid of some of the best jurists in the country is having hard time finding judges to replace them.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=11652
Superior courts facing severe shortage of judges
By Dilshad Azeem
ISLAMABAD: The superior judiciary is troubled with a severe shortage of judges, with more than 50 per cent vacant seats, causing tremendous problems for the people at large as the number of pending cases piles up.
“At present 59 seats out of total strength of 116 are vacant in the Supreme Court and four provincial high courts,” official sources at the law ministry told The News here on Monday. With the mass ouster of judges on Nov 3, the government has managed to appoint judges from different high courts but the situation is extremely perturbing at the provincial level, sources maintained. “Though the overall strength of judges has come down in the recent past but we are working on a priority basis to ensure more inductions as early as possible,” Law Minister Syed Afzal Haider told The News.
Describing it as a reduction rather than shortage, the law minister claimed that neither was there any problem in filling up the vacancies nor was there any sort of refusal on the part of lawyers to become judges at the district and sessions or the high courts levels.
“The total number of judges, particularly at the LHC, has never been at its sanctioned strength since the 1960s,” Afzal Haider said. “We are shortly bringing in a new fleet of judges but I cannot give you a deadline.”
The Lahore High Court (LHC) and the Sindh High Court (SHC) have the sanctioned strength of 50 and 28 judges respectively whereas, presently, only 19 and 11 are in place, leaving a collectively gap of 48.
“This state of affairs has further crippled the situation with the lawyers’ continuous protest as far as disposal of cases is concerned.” Likewise, the situation at other high courts is also distressing and the pending cases are piling up with each passing day with the prosecution continuously constituting new ones without disposal of the pending ones.
The Supreme Court has now a total of 14 judges against its sanctioned strength of 17 with the recent induction of two LHC judges and one from the SHC. Presently, 13 judges are holding their offices at the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against the strength of 15. The Balochistan High Court should have a total of six judges but it is still short of two judges.
According to official sources at the law ministry, the situation at district and session judges under high courts is also not up to their respective strength. “Besides the already vacant positions, inductions of many district and sessions judges at high courts have caused further shortage at the subordinate level.”
The district and sessions judges’ total number under the LHC should be 649 and, yet, dozens are to be appointed. Three hundred and ninety district and sessions judges posts are under the SHC, 123 under the BHC and 177 under the PHC, officials said.
Besides, the government plans to establish a high court at Islamabad and inductions have to be made in a scenario when the lawyers community is not only opposing but also boycotting those taking oath under the PCO.
In the mass ouster with many refusing to take oath under the PCO, Law Minister Afzal Haider claimed that only four judges, two each from the LHC and the PHC, did not take oath despite being invited.
“It is absolutely wrong that lawyers are reluctant to be inducted as district and sessions judges or civil judges. These judges are working under ordinary laws and not under the PCO and, therefore, the question does not arise of their taking oath under the PCO. There is no PCO at the lower courts,” the minister further explained.
The minister said the total number of judges at the LHC has never been more than 35. “It is a ground reality that the overall number of judges has decreased but it is incorrect to say that there is a shortage or problem in new inductions.”
Afzal Haider further said disposal of cases at lower courts is continuing unhindered. “As far as your question is concerned, there has been a drastic reduction in the disposal of cases since March 9.”
The government notified retirement of 37 judges of the apex and four high courts as they either refused to take oath under the PCO or were not invited in the aftermath of Nov 3 proclamation of the emergency and promulgation of the PCO.
Of 17, a total of 13 judges including deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Rana Bhagwandas, Javed Iqbal and Khalilur Rehman Ramday, were notified to have ceased to hold the office through a notification.
Besides, 24 judges of Sindh, Lahore and Peshawar high courts were also retired from their offices under a separate official notification of whom 12 judges were from the Sindh High Court, 10 from LHC and two from PHC.
Islamabad Bar Association President Haroonur Rashid, when contacted, said the lawyers community was pursuing cases at lower courts on a priority basis. “We are also protesting at the lower courts but cases of urgent nature are being followed.” However, he said the pendency at the high courts and the Supreme Court is constantly increasing with each passing day.