CJ wants effective monitoring of lower judiciary

KARACHI: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said on Friday that chief justices and judges of high courts were duty-bound to actively supervise the subordinate judiciary by paying surprise visits to courts.
He was speaking at a session of the National Judicial Police Making Committee convened to examine the effective implementation of the National Judicial Police. The meeting was attended by the judges of the Supreme Court, chief justices of all high courts and judges of the Sindh High Court.
The chief justice said the lack of supervision of the subordinate courts was one of the major reasons for delay in cases and ineffectiveness of lower court forced many litigants to approach the Supreme Court for relief.
He observed that the basic idea behind the exercise was to identify the loopholes in monitoring system and to evolve strategies for effective implementation of the judicial policy to meet the expectation of the litigants.
“This is the time for realisation and to account for what was to be done and what is being done. This is time to step forward and assume our roles and duties. Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, tireless efforts and passionate concern of dedicated individuals,” he observed.
The chief justice said the national judicial policy provided a path for reforming the administration of justice in the country in order to realise the goal of ensuring expeditious and inexpensive justice for all by mobilising the existing resources.
He said the policy articulated strategies for independence of judiciary, eradication of corruption, clearance of backlog and quick dispensation of justice, adding that attention was given to timely disposal of criminal cases, especially cases of under-trial prisoners, languishing in jails.
He said that corrupt practices on part of the judicial officers and the court staff had lowered the confidence of litigant public in judicial system and to curb this menace, the policy provided an exhaustive mechanism which included establishment of a cell for eradication of corruption from judiciary under the supervision of the chief justices of the high courts, monitoring the performance of the district and sessions judges by appointing a judge of high court and conducting surprise visit and inspections of the courts, establishment of a committee headed by sessions judges and presidents of respective bars to curb the corruption of court staff etc.
He expressed hope that the situation could improve if the chief justices of the high courts and their team members ensured the implementation of the judicial policy through strict and efficient monitoring.