National

Judicial Policy
2009
[Revised Edition 2012]

Published by
Secretariat, Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan,
Supreme Court Building, Islamabad
www.ljcp.gov.pk
 Page
CONTENTS
No.

1. Justice at Grassroot Level

Chief Justice of Pakistan … … … 1

2. Executive Summery
Secretary, NJPMC … … … … 4

3. National Judicial Policy … … … … 7

a. Independence of Judiciary

b. Misconduct … … … … 10

c. Eradication of Corruption … … … 11

d. Expeditious Disposal of Cases

• Short Term Measures … … … 17

i Criminal Cases … … … 17

ii Civil Cases … … … 32

• Long Term Measures … … … 42

Justice at the Grassroot Level

Meeting of the NJPMC was convened at a critical moment of our national

history. There has occurred a gradual deterioration in the law and order
situation and parts of the country are experiencing militancy and violence,
causing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of innocent people -
men, women and children. These are difficult times as we are facing
existential threats. But I do not think that the difficulties are
insurmountable. We are a tenacious nation, have demonstrated, more
than once, our strength and ability to face challenges. The lawyers'
movement for restoration of independent-minded judges and supremacy
of law/Constitution is a case in point. The movement for a grand cause
was thronged by enthusiastic groups including civil society organizations,
professional groups, political parties and students, etc. In the evening of
15 March 2009, the movement transformed itself into a mini-revolution. It
demonstrated the agility and determination of the masses to stand by the
Constitution and dispensation of power under this supreme law. It
emboldened me to say today, that together we could face challenges and
convert them into opportunities. I have full faith in the ability of the people
to rise to the occasion and chalk out a future course of action, based on
democratic values and constitutional principles.

The restoration of 3rd November (2007) judiciary ushered in a new era:

an era of hope that political dispensation in the country and governance
shall be in accordance with the constitutional principles. The people of
Pakistan have reposed great confidence in the ability of the judiciary to
redress their grievances and grant them relief. They have very high
expectations of the courts to settle their disputes, restore their
rights/entitlements and maintain peace in society by sending the guilty
behind bars. I thank the people for believing on us! We must strive hard
to meet their expectations. This is time to repay our debt to the nation.
We could do so by addressing the perennial twin-problems of “backlog”
and “delays” in the system of administration of justice. To achieve the
objective, the National Judicial Policy was formulated.

The key features of the National Judicial Policy are strengthening the
independence of the judiciary by its separation from the executive and
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ridding the courts of the menace of corruption, thereby presenting a clean
and positive image of judiciary. In the Policy, we have set high goals for
ourselves. The goals are to initially reduce, and ultimately eliminate,
backlog at the level of superior as well as subordinate courts, and further,
to fix time frame for disposal of civil and criminal cases. The criminal
cases will get priority on account of the sub-human conditions in which
under-trial prisoners are kept in jails. Writs for protection of fundamental
rights i.e. right to life, liberty, equality, property and freedom of thought,
conscience, association, etc will also be maintained on fast track.
Furthermore, financial/rent matters and family/juveniles cases will also
receive preference, which is crucial for economic development and
protection of family values.

The Policy seeks to achieve its objectives, by efficient utilization of

existing resources. We have to operate by remaining within the given
legal/procedural framework. The laws are indeed time-tested. Given
earnest effort by the bench and the bar, I am confident of achieving
positive results. However, keeping in view the gigantic effort new
resources would be needed. We would be very economical in the
utilization of the needed resources. I am confident that the Government
will provide the requisite funds, as our effort is to strengthen the
administration and improve governance. It is necessary for peace and
security, thereby spurring trade/commercial activities and foreign/local
investment in the economy. This is how, the industrialized countries
progressed. This is how, we can move forward. We could achieve the
results by establishing a society based on the supremacy of Constitution
and rule of law. Our aim is to provide Justice for All.

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In the ultimate analysis, the Policy seeks to ensure that the constitutional
principles of equality before law and equal protection of law are strictly
adhered to. Adherence to law/Constitution leads to nation building. It is a
sure recipe for economic growth and social progress. Law protects the
rights/interests of poor/downtrodden segments of society. It helps to
break shackles of cruelty/injustice. It puts an end to exploitation of the
underdog by the rich/influential. Let us strive to achieve the noble goals,
set in the Policy. Let us infuse confidence in the minds of our people that
the system of administration of justice is capable of meeting the
challenges of time and emerging realities. Let us make the judicial organ
of the state as a sheet anchor at the time of serious challenges. I have no
doubt that my brother Judges in the superior courts and judicial officers
would help and support us in our drive to steer the ship of the nation
through troubled waters. I am equally confident of the help and support of
the members of the bar. We have carried out very wide consultations with
them as well as other stakeholders. Their valuable suggestions have
been incorporated in the Policy.

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry

Chief Justice of Pakistan

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Executive Summary

The historical movement for restoration of independent-minded judges,

supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law has heightened the
expectations of the public for early resolution of their cases by courts.
Conscious of the public expectations/aspirations, the Chief Justice of
Pakistan decided to initiate the process of formulating a new judicial policy
for expediting trial proceedings. He assigned the task to the Secretariat
of NJPMC to devise an appropriate strategy and work plan for action. The
NJPMC is a statutory body, the nation's apex judicial forum. It is headed
by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and comprises Chief Justice, Federal
Shariat Court and Chief Justices of provincial High Courts, as members.
The Secretary, Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan is designated as
the Secretary to the Committee. The Committee is required, inter alia, to
prepare and implement judicial policy for improving the capacity and
performance of the administration of justice by setting performance
standards.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan/Chairman NJPMC convened a 2-day

session of the Committee on 18-19 April 2009 to consider the draft
providing steps to strengthen judicial independence, check corrupt
practices in the judicial system and prioritize certain categories of cases
for expeditious disposal. The meeting lasted for 2-days; in one session,
the representatives of the bar including Vice Chairman, Pakistan Bar
Council, Vice Chairmen, of the Provincial Bar Councils, President,
Supreme Court Bar Association and Presidents of all the High Court Bar
Associations were also invited. After thorough deliberations, a draft was
approved, which was forwarded to all judges of the Supreme Court, High
Courts and Subordinate Courts. Copies of the draft were also forwarded
to the President, Supreme Court Bar Association, all High Courts Bar
Associations, all District Bar Associations and all Tehsil Bar Associations.
Simultaneously copies of the draft policy were also forwarded to Attorney
General for Pakistan, all Advocates General, all Prosecutors General,
Secretary, Law and Justice Division, Secretaries of the provincial Law
Departments, Inspectors General of Police, Inspectors General of
Prisons, members of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, etc.
The Secretary, NJPMC in a press briefing shared the draft with media and
general public. The draft was also placed on the LJCP website for
feedback.

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The draft National Judicial Policy was subjected to thorough analysis at
various fora. The members of the bar held in-house sessions to discuss
the report. The District & Sessions Judges convened meetings of district
judiciary alongwith representatives of the District/Tehsil Bar and
forwarded their recommendations to the respective High Court. The Chief
Justices of High Court held consultations with the judges of the High
Court, District & Sessions Judges and representative of the High Court
Bar Associations. Similarly, consultations took place in the office of
Attorney General for Pakistan, Advocates General, Secretary, Law and
Justice Division and Law Departments, etc. The output of such
deliberations was forwarded to the Secretary, NJPMC. Many judges of
superior courts, members of the bar also contributed their input to make
it more result oriented. The input/ recommendations received from
various fora/individual members were examined and a comprehensive
draft was prepared. The draft was initially discussed in a meeting of the
Registrars. After discussion, a draft was finalized. The NJPMC
considered the said draft in its meeting on 16-17 May 2009. After
exhaustive deliberations lasting for 2 days, the Committee finally
approved the National Judicial Policy. The Committee decided that the
respective High Court would make strategies and prepare plans for
effective implementations of the Policy. The Policy was released on 30th
May 2009 in a press briefing by the Registrar, Supreme Court/Secretary,
NJPMC and came into force on 1st June 2009.

The major thrust of the Policy is on early disposal of pending cases in the
superior courts as well as in district courts all over the country. The courts
performed well and by and large achieved the targets set for disposal of
cases. After enforcement of Judicial Policy, the Supreme Court, Federal
Shariat Court, High Courts and District Judiciary decided total 8,532,548
cases. During this period 8,243,043 new cases were instituted meaning
thereby that the disposal figure is 289,505 higher than the institution,
which is an outstanding achievement. The figure of disposal is
encouraging and shows the confidence of people in the judiciary to
resolve their cases and protection of their rights which is a good omen for
the nation. On the other hand, the significant performance of courts has
strengthened the perception of general public about the rule of law in the
country. The Policy proved a tool to sensitize the people regarding their
rights. However, deficiency if any was on account of cogent reasons
beyond the control of courts. Besides, in the Policy certain measures are
suggested to strengthen the role of judicial institutions, keep its
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independence secure and maintain a clean and impartial image of the
judiciary.

Since its application, the Policy is constantly under review to make it

responsive to address the twin issues of backlog and delays in litigation.
Previously in 2011, the revised edition of the Policy was published which
covered all the recommendations of the meetings of NJPMC and Judicial
Conferences held in between 2009 to 2011. The Committee in its
meetings dated 30-31 March 2012 at Peshawar and 27-28 April 2012 at
Karachi considered various issues hindering the process of dispensation
of justice and made recommendation to tackle these hiccups. Besides,
the Committee also approved the recommendations of International
Judicial Conference 2012 held on 13 to 15 April 2012 under the auspices
of NJPMC. All the relevant recommendations have been incorporated in
the instant edition. It is hoped that the Policy will have far reaching effects
in making the judicial organ of the state as a sheet anchor at the time of
serious challenges.

09-7-2012 Habib-ur-Rehman Shaikh

Secretary

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 National Judicial Policy

A. INDEPENDENCE OF JUDICIARY
1) In future no chief justice or a judge of the superior court shall
accept appointment as acting Governor of a Province.

2) No retired judge of the superior court shall accept an

appointment which is lower to his status or dignity including
appointment as presiding officer of Banking Court, Customs Court,
Administrative Tribunal, etc. However, where statute provides that
the person appointed as Chairman or Presiding officer of such Court
or Tribunal shall be a retired or sitting Judge of the Supreme Court
or High Court, he may be appointed in consultation with the Chief
Justice of Pakistan or Chief Justice of the respective High Court, as
the case may be.

(i) The Committee asked the retired judges of the superior

judiciary to maintain the highest standards of decorum and
voluntarily relinquish the charge of such posts which are
lower to their status to earn respect in public and uphold
the principle of the independence of judiciary.

(ii) The Committee asked the Secretary, National Judicial

(Policy Making) Committee to write letters to the Secretary,
Establishment Division and Provincial Chief Secretaries to
relieve all such judges and may not make such
appointments in future.

(iii) As regards filling of vacant posts of Judicial Officers, the

High Courts should make necessary amendments in the
relevant recruitment rules enabling the High Court to
conduct test/interview for recruitment of judicial officers in
the light of principles set forth in the judgment passed by
the High Court of Sindh in C.P No-D2404/2008 (Rashid A
Rizvi & others v/s Province of Sindh & others).

(iv) Judicial offices should not remain vacant and the

appointments must be made expeditiously.
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 (v) Appointment of Judges to be fair and purely on merits. In
this regard the committees for selection of judicial officers
be carefully constituted from amongst the honest, strong
willed judicial officers to withstand the pressures
whatsoever and in whatever manner coming from outside.

3) Instead of appointing retired judges/judicial officers as

presiding officers of the special court/tribunal, qualified serving
judges be appointed against these posts in consultation with the
Chief Justice of the High Court.

4) The High Courts may recommend the serving Judicial

Officers for appointment as presiding officers of special courts by
transfer or on deputation. However, where such appointments are
required to be made by direct recruitment then the same should be
made from amongst the highly qualified and experienced advocates.

5) Posting of serving judges against executive posts in Federal

and Provincial Government Departments on deputation be
discontinued. All such judges should be repatriated to the
respective High Courts, where their services are needed most for
expeditious disposal of pending cases. However, there should be no
bar on serving judges for posting in the judicial academies.

6) All special courts/tribunals under the administrative control

of Executive must be placed under the control and supervision of
the judiciary, their appointments/postings should be made on the
recommendation of the Chief Justice of concerned High Court.

(i) For effective judicial control over such courts/tribunals, the High
Courts should critically examine their judgments under its
appellate jurisdiction. The special courts/tribunals such as
Revenue Courts, Labour Court, Custom Courts, Banking Courts,
Anti Corruption Courts, NIRC, Special Courts for Narcotics,
Banking Courts, Drug Courts, Consumer Courts,
Federal/Provincial Service Tribunals, Environment Tribunals and
Income Tax Appellate Tribunals etc. are performing judicial
functions thus these should work under the supervision of
respective High Court. In this regard the Federal/Provincial
governments should amend the relevant laws to bring the judges
and staff of the Special Courts in the purview of the respective
High Court.

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 (ii) The performance of administrative staff of special
courts/tribunals is not found satisfactory and there are
complaints of corruption against them; therefore, the Chief
Justices of High Courts through Registrars should ensure the
implementation of the National Judicial Policy as the same is
also binding on such courts/tribunals and take steps for
eradication of corruption.

(iii) Performance of special courts/tribunals should be monitored

by the respective High Courts.

(iv) Members of the service tribunals have to decide service

appeals by interpreting legal provisions; therefore, persons
having sound knowledge and understanding of law/rules and
ability to decide cases judiciously may be appointed as a
member of such tribunals. Retired District & Sessions Judges
may be considered for appointment as member of such
tribunals.

7) In future the judiciary would avoid its involvement in the

conduct of elections, as it distracts the judicial officers from
professional duty and complaints of corrupt practices tarnish the
image of judiciary.

The reputation of judiciary is at stake during election due to

involvement of vested interests groups, etc in corrupt
practices. On the other hand, it also adversely affects the
judicial functions of the courts. Even otherwise, the Conduct
of General Elections Order 2002, Representation of the
People Act, 1976 and Local Government Ordinance 2001 do
not contain any provision which requires that the elections
are to be held under the supervision of the Judiciary.
Therefore, in future, the Judiciary should remain aloof from
the process of election to focus on disposal of cases.
However, in case of request from the Government, the
NJPMC would decide the extent to which and form of help
to be extended to Government in the conduct of elections.
The judiciary will continue to extend support and cooperation
in adjudication of election related disputes/complaints as
provided under the law.

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B. MISCONDUCT
1) The Judges of the superior courts should follow the Code of
Conduct prescribed for judges. They should take all steps
necessary to decide cases within the shortest possible time. As
provided by Article X of the Code of Conduct: “In his judicial work a
Judge shall take all steps to decide cases within the shortest time,
controlling effectively efforts made to prevent early disposal of
cases and make every endeavor to minimize suffering of litigants by
deciding cases expeditiously through proper written judgments. A
judge who is unmindful or indifferent towards this aspect of his duty
is not faithful to his work, which is a grave fault”. Hence, the Chief
Justice of concerned High Court may report cases of violation of
Code of Conduct including incidents of unusual delays/inefficient
performance to the Chairman, Supreme Judicial Council for action.

The prime duty of a judge is to present before the public a

clean image of judiciary. The oath of a judge implies
complete submission to the Constitution and under the
Constitution to the law. Subject to these governing
obligations, his function of interpretation and application of
the Constitution and the law is to be discharged for the
maintenance of rule of law. To be a living embodiment of
these powers, functions and obligations call for
possession of the highest qualities of intellect and
character. Equally, it imposes patterns of behavior, which
are the hallmark of distinction of a judge among his fellow-
men. Therefore, the Committee asked the Chief Justices
to report the violations of Code of Conduct to the Supreme
Judicial Council for appropriate action.

2) Establishment of a code of conduct on gender sensitivities

and judicial empathy should be observed by all associated with the
judicial system, in particular judges, court staff and counsel.

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C. ERADICATION OF CORRUPTION
1) The code of conduct for subordinate judiciary, framed by the
Peshawar High Court and adopted by the Lahore High Court should
be considered for adoption by the High Courts of Sindh and
Balochistan.

2) The present mechanism for initiation of disciplinary action

against corrupt and inefficient judicial officers/court staff be
improved. In each High Court a Cell to be called “Cell for Eradication
of Corruption from Judiciary” may be established in the office of
Registrar, under the supervision of Chief Justice of High Court to
entertain complaints with credible evidence. Copies of such
complaints may also be forwarded to the Registrar, Supreme Court
of Pakistan. As regards the officers/staff of the Supreme Court, a
Judge shall be the Incharge of such Cell.

3) Action should be initiated against those judicial officers/staff

that carry persistent reputation of being corrupt or have their life
style beyond ostensible means of income.

(i) The performance of the District and Sessions Judges

should be monitored by appointing a judge of the High
Court and conducting surprise visits/inspection of the
Courts.

(i-a) The period of probation of the judicial officers be kept

under strict watch, their performance be carefully
assessed at the time of making decision as to their
confirmation or otherwise.

(i-b) ACR’s of the judicial officers be prepared with great care

and caution and the same should not be undone by the
high court without verification of report submitted by the
reporting officer.

(i-c) Judges/Judicial officers be required to declare their assets

and that of their dependants at the time of their induction
and thereafter on annual basis.

(ii) To curb the malpractices and corruption of courts staff,

Munshi/clerks of the lawyers and touts, a “Committee”
headed by the District and Sessions Judge and President
District Bar Association should be formed to entertain

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 complaints against corrupt officials for taking action
against them under the Law.

(ii-a) Judicial officers be required to keep an eye on the touts in

collaboration with the office bearers of the Bar
Associations.

(ii-b) Bar Councils should take steps for early disposal of the
complaints of professional misconduct by the lawyers and
also make all possible efforts to discourage the elements
involved in corrupt practices and professional misconduct
and are earning bad name for the Bar.

(ii-c) A complaint box shall be placed in every District Court for

facilitating the litigants regarding their complaints against
judicial officers and court staff. It shall be directly
supervised by the D&SJs, who shall take appropriate
action on authentic complaints.

(ii-d) Only authentic complaints duly supported by substantive

evidence should be considered for action and in case of
false accusation the complainant should be taken to task
maligning the judiciary.

(ii-e) CCTVs should be installed in the court premises to

enhance the surveillance mechanism for curbing
corruption.

(ii-f) Commandments negating corruption and corrupt

practices shall be affixed in Court premises.

(iii) The Chief Secretaries of the provinces should initiate steps

for computerization of revenue record on the pattern of
Punjab province.

(iv) The concerned Secretaries of the Revenue Departments

may take necessary steps for eradication of corruption and
streamlining the functioning of Revenue officials/
departments by formulating efficient policy within 3 months
and forward the same to the Chief Justice of the respective
High Court for consideration in the meeting of NJPMC.

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 (v) Corruption must be curbed through awareness campaigns
and empowerment of the civil society through capacity
building initiatives including workshops, trainings and
seminars.

4) To guard against the evil of nepotism, favoritism, corrupt

means, etc, the MITs in High Courts may examine the judgments of
the judicial officers to detect incidents of corruption/improper
conduct. All the judicial officers of the subordinate judiciary may be
asked to send copies of the judgments including bail/stay orders for
scrutiny to MITs.

4-A) Judgments appraisal system by Appellate Courts must be

ensured.

5) Surprise inspections be carried out by the Chief

Justices/judges of the High Courts to monitor the working of
subordinate judiciary. In this regard, Judges of the High Courts be
designated for each division/district on rotation basis.

6) The District and Sessions Judges should also report about

the corruption/ misconduct of their subordinate judges.

7) The judge should himself write order sheets, interlocutory

orders and register petitions.

7-A) To minimize the chances of producing false affidavits,

following steps shall be taken:-

(i) The High Courts may install a Close Circuit Televisions

(CCTV) and the snaps of the deponent be captured and
attached with the file as evidence.

(ii) Persons found violating the instructions should be dealt

with under the relevant disciplinary rules.

(iii) Stamp venders shall be compelled to ensure that the

stamp papers are sold to a person after ascertaining/
verifying his identity, all affidavits should be attested by the
Oath Commissioner/Authorize Officer of Courts after
getting proof of identity.

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 8) Appropriate criminal cases under the relevant provisions of
law may also be registered against the judicial officers/court staff
involved in corruption.

9) The corrupt judicial officers be made OSDs and kept against

their post for the purpose of drawing salary only and disciplinary
proceedings should be quickly finalized.

10) No judicial officer/official should be posted in home district

and those remained posted in a particular district beyond 3 years
should be transferred to other district.

The judicial officers shall not be transferred before completion of 3 years

tenure at a station unless the interest of public or the institution demands
early transfer/posting.

10-A) Judges be not posted at places where their relatives practice

as lawyers.

10-B) Transfers of judges be made by posting proportionally to

hard areas by rotation.

11) Naib Courts having completed 3 months attachment with a

court should be sent back to their parent department instead of
transferring them to other court by rotation.
12) The complaints of corrupt practices and professional
misconduct against lawyers addressed to the Chief Justice of High
Court should be forwarded to the Bar Council for action. The Council
should take immediate action on such complaints under intimation
to Registrars of the concerned High Court.

(i) To ensure appearance of Counsels in cases before district

judiciary, the senior lawyers should organize their offices
as law firms where they may train their juniors and entrust
cases to them for pleading independently. The Junior
Advocates should be encouraged to prepare and plead
cases independently; this will help in curtailing the delays
caused by frequent adjournments on account of non-
availability of senior counsel or their engagement in
superior courts.

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 (ii) The senior lawyers should maintain certain standard for
themselves and may not appear before each and every
Court at District level.
(iii) Lawyers must realize their responsibilities and should put
their best abilities in assisting the Courts while pleading
their cases so that their efforts may be culminated in early
disposal of cases.
(iv) Lawyers must rise to the occasion and stop the practice of
taking adjournments and using delay tactics for lingering
the cases. There should be a limit for taking adjournments
in the cases. If the Judicial Officer comes to conclusion
that the advocate is purposely taking the adjournments to
prolong the litigation then the requests for adjournment
may not be acceded to.
(v) Lawyers should avoid engaging in a case where another
lawyer is already engaged as such act would cause
apprehensions for miscarriage of justice.

12-A) Lawyers who have remained judges of the superior courts

use the prefix/suffix of their previous designation such as retired
Justice, Ex-Judge, Ex –Attorney General etc. to attract clientage.
This practice is prohibited under the Rule 174-A of the Pakistan
Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils rules, 1976. In this regard Bar
Councils are bound to take steps to discontinue the practice of
using previous designation or post.
Some Judges who were elevated to the High Courts but not confirmed
and other remained unconfirmed and were laid of as a result of Supreme
Court’s judgment of 31st July 2009 continue to use the prefix/suffix of
retired Justice which is contrary to law/rules. Since they are not entitled
to the honour, they must not use it. The Committee also request the
print/electronic media to exercise due care while referring to such
persons.

12-B) Some Lawyers who have remained judges of the superior

courts are using flags, emblems/ insignia of their previous offices to
mislead the law enforcement agencies or avail the protocol of a
judge of the superior courts. This practice is against the law and
norms; therefore, should be dealt with under the Legal Practitioner
and Bar Council Rules 1976 and District Police Officers should take
action against such retired judges.

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13) Incentives should be given to the honest, efficient and hard
working judicial officers including advance increments and posting
at stations of choice etc.

13-A) High Courts should give incentives in terms of advanced

increment/cash awards to the judicial officers who performed well
and achieved the targets of the Policy.

13-B) Competent judicial officers be provided opportunities to avail

the opportunity of improvement of qualifications.

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D. EXPEDITIOUS DISPOSAL OF CASES
SHORT TERM MEASURES

I. CRIMINAL CASES

1) In bailable cases, grant of bail is a statutory right of the

accused; therefore, the court before which the accused appears or
is brought may immediately release him on bail, subject to
furnishing of sureties as provided under section 496 Cr.P.C.

2) Bail application under section 497 Cr.P.C. with photocopy of

the FIR, duly authenticated by the Counsel, should be accepted and
the court shall call for record of the case on its own through Naib
Court.

3) In bail matters, notice to State for production of record shall

not exceed beyond 3 days and all the Provincial Police
Officers/Inspectors General of Police shall issue standing
instructions to the concerned officers to ensure production of
record without delay.

4) Bail applications under section 497 of Cr.P.C. shall be

decided not beyond a period of 3 days by the Magistrate, 5 days by
Court of Sessions and 7 days by the High Court.

(i) The Court should consider the principles set forth by the
Supreme Court (1996 S.C.M.R 973) while deciding the bail
petitions of women having suckling babies.

(i-a) The provincial governments should take immediate steps

for welfare and education of all children confined in Jails
with their mothers so that they may be reintegrated in the
society as law abiding citizens.

(ii) To overcome the problem of congestion in Jails, the court

should exercise powers under section 497 Cr.P.C.
keeping in view the principles of grant of bail including the
principle that if the offence does not fall under the purview
of prohibitory clause, grant of bail is a rule and refusal is
an exception.

(iii) In case bail is rejected, the court should take all possible
measures for disposal of the case to reduce the chances

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 of filing of bail petitions before the higher courts. However,
where the accused desires to move the higher court, the
trial court should provide attested copies of all the relevant
documents to avoid the chance of requisitioning of original
record from the trial court which hinders the disposal of
case.

5) Applications for cancellation of bail under Sub-section (5) of

section 497 Cr.P.C. should be decided within 15 days by the courts
including High Court.

Grant of bail or otherwise is the discretion of a court

and should be exercised diligently and once a bail
is granted it should not be withdrawn unless an
opportunity is given to the accused.

6) In Criminal Cases it is the duty of the police/investigating

agency to submit Challan (Police Report) within a period of 14 days
as contemplated in section 173 Cr.P.C. In case of non-completion of
investigation, an interim report shall be submitted and in such
cases, the court shall not grant remand beyond 15 days period.

The prosecution should strictly follow the Order passed by

the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the case of Hakeem
Mumtaz Ahmad and other vs the State (PLD 2002 SC 590)
and it should be ensured that in future challans of criminal
cases are submitted within the stipulated period of 14 days
as provided under section 173(1) Cr.P.C failing which
action should be taken against the concerned officers for
non compliance.

7) Non-completion of investigation and non-submission of

Challans in statutory period is a major cause of delays in disposal
of cases. Since, Police plays crucial role in administration of justice,
therefore, the District Police Officers may be asked to ensure that
the police should conclude investigation and submit Challans within
the prescribed period of 14 days. They may be asked that the SHOs
who fail to comply with this statutory provision should be treated as
inefficient officer under the Police Order and the court may also
lodge complaint under section 166 PPC against him. The DPOs
should also submit list of cases in which Challans are still pending
for want of investigation for inspection and passing appropriate
orders by the District and Sessions Judge.
7-A) A proper register should be maintained by all the criminal
courts having details of FIR, arrest of accused person(s) and due

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date for submission of Challan enabling the concerned presiding
officer to pursue investigation agencies for submission of Challans.

7-AA) Challan of case should be submitted after full preparation

and after ensuring that all witnesses will be produced as and when
required by the courts.

7-B) Departments of prosecution and Investigation should be

strengthened so that criminal cases are decided expeditiously in
accordance with law.

7-C) Training of prosecutors, investigators and law enforcer should

be carried out on systematic basis to apprise them about modern
forensic auditing and investigating techniques.

(i) Communication between investigation agencies

and prosecution may be improved so that least time should
be consumed in the scrutiny of cases

(ii) The prosecutors should ensure that cases are

conducted with utmost care and cases of defective
investigation should be reported to the concerned
authorities for action under the relevant laws.

(iii) An independent prosecution serving agency under

the administrative control of Prosecution Branch be
established as provided in the Punjab Criminal
Prosecution Service (Constitution Functions and Powers)
Act. 2006.

(iv) Number of investigation officers should be

increased so that a manageable number of cases be
assigned to an officer for Investigation.

(V) The police should remove objections raised by the

prosecution within shortest possible time.

7-D) Meetings of the Criminal Justice Coordination Committees

should be held regularly to resolve issues hindering the process of
dispensation of justice.

8) No judge should grant remand in the absence of

accused and while granting remand should strictly adhere to
the relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure
- 19 -
and principles laid down in the Hakeem Mumtaz case (PLD
2002 SC 590)

(i) The District and Sessions Judges should regularly

visit Jails on monthly basis to hear the complaints of the
prisoners and issue directions for resolution of their
problems/difficulties and may release the prisoners
involved in petty offences.

(ii) During Jail visits the Judicial Officers should

ensure that cases be decided in presence of prosecutors
and defence counsels, if any. Alternatively, the D&SJs
may call the list of prisoners involved in petty crimes
together with Challan for entrusting the same to a
Magistrate for disposal.

8-A) In each district at least one Judicial Magistrate should

be designated to visit jails and grant judicial remand to the
prisoners who could not be produced before the court on
account of strike/ law and order situation.

9) All criminal cases punishable with imprisonment for upto 7

years registered after 1st January 2009 be kept on fast track for
disposal within 6 months.

For disposal of freshly instituted cases within the stipulated

period and to avoid piling of cases, there may be practical
difficulties but the same can be overcome by extending
court timings depending upon the workload. The extended
time could be utilized for writing judgments, framing of
charge and other miscellaneous work.

9-A) Old cases may be decided by prioritization the same

as per following categorization:-

A. Old cases Category-I

(i) Cases filed up to the year 2000 as oldest category.
(ii) Cases filed from 2001 to 2005 as older category.
(iii) Cases filed from 2006 to 31st December 2008 as
old category.

B. Old Cases Category-II

- 20 -
 Cases instituted from 1st January 2009 to 28th February
2011.

10) All criminal cases punishable with imprisonment from 7

years and above including death cases shall be decided within a
period of 1 year.

Chapter XX and XXII-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898

prescribe detailed procedure for trial of cases by Magistrate and
the Court of Sessions to ensure fair trial for the accused. Since
this procedure takes longer time, therefore to finalize the
proceedings, the following measures should be adopted to cut
short the delays:

(a) On receipt of Challan, the court shall immediately fix

the case and issue production warrants/notice.

(b) When the accused is brought or appears before the

court he should be provided with copies of
statements and relevant documents as provided
under section 241C and 265C Cr.P.C and be
directed to ensure presence of his Counsel on the
next date of hearing enabling the court to commence
the trial.

(c) Under section 173 Cr.P.C, it is the duty of the

concerned SHO/ Investigating Officer to produce
witnesses and case property before the court during
trial. Therefore, the court shall take all necessary
measures to bind the SHO/IOs to procure evidence
on the fixed date.

(d) For ensuring production of witnesses, the IOs should

provide land line telephone number, cellular phone
number, e-mail address to the court/prosecutor for
timely service.

(e) All efforts should be made to produce witnesses and

the case property on the first date of hearing.

(f) If no case is made out or there is no probability of

accused being convicted, the accused should be
acquitted of the charge under Section 249-A or 265-
K Cr.P.C, as the case may be.

- 21 -
 (g) The court shall not grant unnecessary adjournments
and if possible should proceed with the case on day
to-day basis.

(h) The court shall take care that only relevant and
admissible evidence is recorded.

(i) The District and Sessions Judges should hold

meetings with the jail authorities to ensure the
production of UTPs on the date of hearing to avoid
delays on account of non-production of prisoners.

(j) The court should take strict action against the parties
or witnesses causing deliberate delays in
proceedings.

(k) The judgments should be based on well founded

reasons and acumen so that it not only resolve the
disputes but also lessen the prospects of future
litigation.

(l) Delay in disposal of criminal cases is mostly due to

the non-cooperation of relevant stakeholders of
justice sector namely, lawyers, police and prison
authorities; therefore, the court should ensure that
they may fulfill their legal obligations to minimize
delays and expedite trials.

11) Cases relating to preventive detention under section 107 read

with section 151 Cr.P.C. should be decided as early as possible by
following the procedure as envisaged under section 112, 117 and
118 Cr.P.C.

12) Production before court for remand/trial is a statutory right of

every prisoner; therefore, the District and Sessions Judges should
ask the jail authorities to ensure that the prisoners must be
produced before the court. The District and Sessions Judges should
also monitor that while granting remand all requisite procedural
formalities are complied with.

(i) The High Courts should ensure that the prisoners are
produced before the Courts and violations of such
instructions should be taken seriously

- 22 -
(i.a) During the hearing, the production of prisoners / witnesses
and other relevant evidence before the Court is the
responsibility of Prosecution/Investigation Agency;
therefore, the concerned authorities should discharge their
responsibility without any failure or slackness.

(ii) The Prosecution should procure the attendance of

witnesses on the date of hearing and the court must
ensure that no witness should return unexamined and the
prisoner without any progress in his trial/case.

(iii) The trial Court shall not grant unnecessary adjournments

particularly on account of failure to produce the
prosecution witnesses. If any Police Officer or
Investigating Officer of the case is found guilty of
deliberate attempts to prolong the trial, the trial Court may
report the matter to the Officer Incharge of such Police
Officer for taking necessary action. If in any case it
appears that no action has been taken on the complaint
the matter may be brought to the notice of Chief Justice
through Registrar for initiating contempt proceeding
against such Police Officer responsible for causing
hindrance in conclusion of trial. To discourage the
tendency of taking adjournment on flimsy grounds, the
Registrar of the High Court may convey a meeting of the
Inspector General Police, Prosecutor General and
Advocate General to chalk out a uniform policy for
expeditious disposal of criminal cases.

(iv) In appropriate cases where complaints have been made

against Police for misuse of authority, dishonest
investigation, negligence and inefficiency, the matter may
be reported to the Police Complaint Authorities and District
Public Safety Commission for initiation of disciplinary
proceeding against the delinquents.

(v) In case the trial Court comes to conclusion that the Police
have viciously and unnecessary caused delay in
forwarding the case to the Court or to any other Authority
to whom he was legally bound to forward any arrested
person may be proceeded against the responsible on
account of misconduct and in case of conviction he may
also be punished with imprisonment for a term which may

- 23 -
 extend to one year or with fine under Article 157 of the
Police Order, 2002.

(vi) In the Office of the Provincial Police Officer /IGP, a focal

person may be designated to perform exclusively the
duties of receiving the orders from the Courts in
connection with the trial of criminal cases and dispatching
it to the concerned quarters for compliance, particularly
orders regarding production of record and under trial
prisoners in the Court on the date and time fixed by the
Court.

(vii) Sub section (3) of section 167 Cr.P.C. requires that while
granting police remand reasons should be recorded for
doing so after scrutiny of record and under no
circumstances accused should be remanded to police
custody unless it is made clear that his presence is actually
needed for some specific purpose connected with the
completion of investigation. Moreover, sub section (4) of
section 167 Cr.P.C. requires the Magistrate to forward a
copy of remand order with reasons for making it to the
Sessions Judge. Strict compliance of this provision would
help the Sessions Judges to supervise the action of
Magistrates working under them.

(viii) Section 344 Cr.P.C. empowers the Court to

postpone/adjourn the proceedings and remand the
accused person to judicial custody upto 15 days; however,
grant of judicial remand in routine on “Robkars” in absence
of accused person amounts to violation of law. Therefore,
it is recommended that adjournments should not be
granted unless necessitated in the interest of justice and
for the reasons beyond control.

12-A) Frequent non production of undertrial prisoners for trial on

account of law & order situation is also a major cause of delay in
disposal of criminal cases. Each High Court should install video
conferencing facility at least in one district through its own
resources for recording their statements.

13) In criminal cases, non-representation of accused by Counsel is

also a source of delay in trial, therefore, the Chief Justices of High
Courts, in consultation with the Chairman of the Legal Aid
Committee of the Provincial Bar Councils or Pakistan Bar Council,
may appoint lawyer in such cases to avoid delay. In this regard a list
- 24 -
of the advocates should be maintained in each district so that they
can be appointed for provision of legal aid to accused person who
cannot afford to hire the services of Counsels. However, prior to
appointing any Counsel option of selection from that list should be
given to the accused in the interest of justice.

The Federal / Provincial Governments may allocate

sufficient fund for Pakistan Bar Council and Provincial Bar
Councils for activation of Legal Aid Committees
functioning under Legal Practitioners Act 1973 for paying
the fee of advocates in deserving cases.

The District Legal Empowerment Committees should be

activated for providing legal aid to the deserving litigants,
who despite having valid cause could not pursue their
cases in courts on account of limited financial resources.

14) To check the tendency of filing false and frivolous cases, the
court should take penal action against the party by imposing fines
under section 250 Cr.P.C. or filing complaints under section 182 and
211 of the PPC.

(i) False and frivolous litigation in civil as well as in criminal

sides be discouraged by imposing heavy costs,
compensation and penalties in accordance with the
provisions of section 35-A C.P.C and 250 Cr.P.C so that
the precious time of the Courts may not be wasted and
utilized for redressal of genuine grievances of the litigants.

(ii) In cases triable by a Magistrate, if the court discharges or

acquits all or any of the accused and is of the opinion that
the accusation against them or any of them was false or
frivolous, the court may acquit or discharge the accused
and may call upon the complainant/informant to show
cause as to why he should not pay compensation to the
accused. After considering the facts and circumstances of
the case the Magistrate may direct the complainant /
informant to pay to the accused a compensation not
exceeding rupees twenty five thousand. The
compensation payable under section 250 Cr.P.C. is
recoverable as arrears of land revenue.

(iii) If this provision of the law is enforced in its true sense, it

would certainly help to reduce the number of groundless

- 25 -
 and frivolous complaints/ cases .However, in fixing the
amount of compensation, the court should carefully
consider the status of accused as well as that of the
complainant and the nature of accusation. Besides, if it
appears to a court that forgery or perjury has been
committed in relation to any proceeding before it then the
court can proceed against the defaulter under section 476
Cr P.C. to vanish the impression that anyone can abuse
the process of law by falsehood or fabrication and that too
without any risk of prosecution. Before prosecuting the
accused it is essential for the court to consider whether
there is a reasonable probability for the conviction and is it
expedient in the interest of justice or not?.

(iv) Under section 476 of the Cr.P.C. the court may itself take
cognizance of the offence and try it in accordance with the
procedure prescribed for summary trials in Chapter XXII of
the Code. However, if the court considers that the accused
should not be tried summarily under section 476, it may
after recording the facts constituting the offence and
statement of the accused forward the case to the
competent court for trial.

15) Under the Police Order 2002, the Police Complaints Authorities
and District Public Safety Commissions are setup at various levels
for enquiring into complaints against police regarding misuse of
authority, dishonest investigation, negligence and inefficiency.
Therefore, it is needed that in appropriate cases the Presiding
Officers should make references to concerned authorities for
initiation of proceedings against the delinquent police
officers/officials.

(i) At District level, District & Sessions Judges, DCO, DPO

and District Attorney/Prosecutor and at Provincial level
Registrar, High Court, IGP and Prosecutor
General/Advocate General may hold meetings on monthly
basis for monitoring the performance of investigation
agency, early completion of investigation and production
of witnesses before the court for quick disposal of criminal
cases.

(ii) The Police Officers/Jails Staff responsible for non-

production of under trial prisoners before the Courts
without any reasonable excuse may be proceeded against
under the Police Order, 2002 and other relevant Rules.

- 26 -
 (iii) The trial Court shall not grant unnecessary adjournments
particularly on account of failure to produce the
prosecution witnesses. If any Police Officer or
Investigating Officer of the case is found guilty of
deliberate attempts to prolong the trial, the trial Court may
report the matter to the Officer Incharge of such Police
Officer for taking necessary action. In case it appears that
no action has been taken on the complaint the matter may
be brought to the notice of Chief Justice through Registrar
for initiating contempt proceedings against such Police
Officer responsible for causing hindrance in conclusion of
trial.

(iv) The Federal and Provincial Governments should take

steps for the establishment of the National Public Safety
Commission at national and provincial levels for
entertaining the complaints of general public against the
Police Officials.

16) Transfer applications under section 526 & 528 Cr.P.C,

miscellaneous applications like Supardari of vehicle and disposal of
property under chapter XLIII of the Code and other applications
arising out of interim orders should
be decided within 7 days.

17) In murder references under section 374 Cr.P.C, the practice

of printing paper books be discontinued and photocopied books
may be accepted so as to avoid unnecessary delay in disposal of
appeals for want of printing of paper book

18) To address the issue of convicts including women

languishing in jails for want of payment of Diyat, Arsh & Daman even
after serving their entire period of sentence of imprisonment, the
Federal Government has already framed Rules, called the Diyat,
Arsh and Daman Fund Rules 2007. However, despite lapse of
considerable time the benefits of this legislation have not trickled
down to the deserving convicts. Therefore, the Provincial Chief
Secretaries may be asked to consider the cases of such convicts
and make necessary arrangements for payment on first come first-
serve basis.

(i) The Provincial Government may also explore possibilities

for creating other funds through Bait-ul-Maal, provincial
charitable endowment, if any, and donations. Such funds
- 27 -
 shall be maintained under proper accounting/auditing
mechanism.

(ii) In order to alleviate the suffering of the prison inmates and

to provide the necessary food and other facilities according
to scale prescribed under Jail Manual, the Additional
District & Sessions Judge on the first Friday of the month
the District & Sessions Judge on the last Friday in the
afternoon after Court timing may visit to the jail and
examine the record of production of prisoners, overall
situation of jail and to know the attitude and behaviour of
jail officials with the prisoners and submit a brief report to
the Registrar of the High Court by the 5th of ensuing month.
A consolidated report of such visits may be forwarded by
the Registrar of High Court to the Secretary, NJPMC for
placing before the Hon’ble Chief Justice of
Pakistan/Chairman, NJPMC.

(iii) The provincial governments should reactivate the practice

of appointing philanthropists, social workers, doctors and
retired government officers as Non Official Visitors in
respect of any Prison as provided in rule 916 of the Prisons
Rules 1978.

19. The Courts/Government should make use of the Probation of

Offender Ordinance 1960 as well as the Good Conduct Prisoners
Probation Release Act 1926 to extend benefits of the said laws by
releasing the deserving convicts on parole/probation in accordance
with law.

(i) For effective use of these legislations the Committee

recommended that:

(a) The Probation and Parole Officers should be

activated and be asked to visit jails frequently for
conducting inquiry and submission of reports to
facilitate the courts and provincial governments to
consider the cases of deserving convicts.

(b) The Provincial Home Departments should ensure

the presence of Probation and Parole Officers in
jails during the visits of the Sessions judges and
judges of the High Court.

- 28 -
 (c) The Registrar, Supreme Court/Secretary, NJPMC
may convene regular meetings of the Registrars of
the High Courts and Home Secretaries to evolve
strategies for effective enforcement of the
aforesaid laws.

(d) In proper cases the Sessions judges should

exercise powers under Probation of Offender
Ordinance 1960 or make recommendations to
concerned government to extend favour to the
convicts /UTP under Good Conduct Prisoners
Probation Release Act 1926, as the case may be.

(ii) The jail authority may arrange education facilities for the
adult prisoners and those who passes 5th class
examination may be given incentive of the remission in
their sentence on the basis of improvement in educational
qualification.

(iii) In the monthly meeting of the Criminal Justice

Coordination Committee the services of the specialists
may be co-opted for arranging special medical assistance
to the prisoners in routine.

(iv) Besides up-gradation and increase in salaries of the staff

of Prison Departments, the incentive of up-gradation and
additional allowance equivalent to one salary to the staff
of the R & P may be extended to other provinces in line
with the province of Punjab.

(v) There is no provision in law to release the women

prisoners having suckling babies/children. Nevertheless it
was agreed that suitable amendment in the relevant law
be suggested by the LJCP for remission of sentences or
release on bail of women having suckling babies/children.

(vi) To enable timely release of foreigners from jails on

completion of their convictions, the Home Departments
should start the process of repatriation much earlier from
the date of their release. In case where delay is on account
of nonpayment of fine or fund to defray passage expenses,
the assistance of Philanthropist/UN agencies i.e. UNHCR
and ICRC may be sought.

- 29 -
19-A) Provincial Governments should improve the living
conditions in jails and provide good quality food, clean drinking
water and medical facilities.

(i) Concerned authorities may be asked to carry out the

exercise of screening of HIV Aids and Hepatitis cases so
that the infected prisoners could be segregated from
others and their treatment should be arranged.

(ii) Jail Manual provides remission in sentence of prisoners in

lieu of blood donation and these blood bags are provided
to blood banks/NGOs for transfusion. Non screened blood
becomes a major cause of transmitting infectious
diseases; therefore, henceforth no blood should be
provided to blood banks or to any organization without
complete screening.

(ii) Before distributing blood the Medical Officer of the jail

should issue a certificate to the official that the donated
blood is free from all kind of infectious diseases and the
officials found violating the instructions should be taken to
task.
19-B) Provision of jail manual regarding grant of remission and
other facilities to the jail inmates are being violated; which leads to
commission of riots in jails. Provincial Home Secretaries should
ensure strict compliance of provisions of Jail Manual without any
discrimination and favoritism.

(i) Moral and spiritual guidance should be provided to the

prisoners and efforts should be made for debriefing of
prisoners especially involved in terrorist activities,
sectarian killings etc. by also involving religious scholars
and spiritual leaders.

(iii) Prison authorities should provide books and other

recreational and instructional material for the prisoners.

(v) Treatment and detoxification facilities for drug addict in the

prisons should be provided.

(iv) Female lady doctors should be posted in the prisons where

large numbers of female prisoners are incarcerated.
- 30 -
20) The Registrars of High Courts should approach the Law and
Justice Division to know about the pending mercy petitions and
copy of the list shall be submitted to the Registrar, Supreme Court,
who shall take-up the matter with the competent authority in
consultation with the Chief Justice Pakistan on priority basis. In
case of rejection of mercy petition, the Provincial Home Secretaries
should ensure completion of the process without unnecessary delay
to maintain the deterrent effect of the sentence.

21) Emphasis should be given on quick disposal of Narcotics

and Anti Terrorism cases, cases of women and Juvenile offenders
etc.
For early disposal of ATA cases, the Committee recommended
that the judges of the High Courts and Supreme Court be
designated to monitor and ensure compliance of guidelines laid
down in case of Liaquat Hussain vs. Federation of Pakistan (PLD
1999 SC 504).

22) To clear the backlog under different categories, special

benches should be constituted at Principal seat and Branch
Registries of Supreme Court and High Court to decide current/old
cases by placing the prioritized ones on fast track.

- 31 -
II. CIVIL CASES
1) Writ petitions under Article 199 of the Constitution should be
fixed for 'Katchi Peshi' on the next day of institution and be disposed
of as quickly as possible.

2) Writ petitions of the following categories if competent under

the law, should be decided within 60 days:

(i) Pertaining to service disputes including promotion,

transfer and such other matters.

(ii) Relating to admission of students in professional colleges

and allied matters.

3) Stay matter under Order 39 rule 1&2 should be decided within

15 days of grant of interim injunction and in case of delay, the
judicial officer should report reasons to the concerned Chief Justice
of the High Court through Registrar.

The Committee considered the issue of frequent grant of

temporary injunctions by the courts without realizing the
consequences and recommended that the following instructions
should be complied with strictly:

(a) All Courts shall examine such applications critically and ensure that
the interlocutory injunctions should be granted ex-parte only in
very exceptional circumstances, unless the plaintiff can convince
the Court that by no reasonable diligence could he have avoided
the necessity of applying for unilateral order.

(b) Such injunctions should be limited to a minimum time within which

a defendant can come effectively before the Court.

(c) It should be noted that under Rule 2-A of Order 39, Code of Civil
Procedure, an interim injunction passed in the absence of the
defendant shall not ordinarily exceed 15 days, provided that such
injunction may be extended for failure of its service on the
defendant when such failure is not attributable to the plaintiff or
when the defendant seeks time for defence.

- 32 -
 (d) The Court should take greatest care to state exactly what acts
are restrained instead of copying the application, and if only
one or some of the acts are sought to be restrained, the
injunction should be confined to that and should not hold on
other acts to which the defendant can possibly object.

(e) When the defendant appears or files his reply/affidavit then the
court should immediately dispose of the matter without any
adjournment and if it is not possible the court should take an
undertaking from the defendant to be restrained from doing
any act complained about.

(f) The Court should not allow the abuse of injunction by common
tactics such as non-service of process or lingering on the
period by seeking adjournments etc.

(g) An order of Injunction made under Rule 1 or 2 of Order 39 after

hearing the parties or after notice to the defendant shall cease
to have effect on the expiration of six months unless extended
by the Court after hearing the parties again and for reasons to
be recorded for such extension and a report of such extension
should be submitted to the High Court.

4) The rent cases should be decided speedily within a period of

4 months.

(i) In rent cases, the details of the property, survey number,

locality and complete address of the respondents with a
certificate/affidavit to the correctness of that information
shall be attached with the eviction application.
(ii) It is noticed that the provisions of rent laws are not properly
understood, appreciated and applied in proceedings by
the Rent Controllers, therefore, the Committee asked for
strict compliance of guidelines given by the Supreme Court
of Pakistan in case reported in SCMR 2000 at page 556,
which are as under:-

(a) Affidavits of not more than two witnesses in support of the

ejectment application shall be filed in the Court in addition
to the affidavit of the petitioner himself in support of the
contents of ejectment petition.

(b) While replying to the ejectment application the respondent

shall be similarly required to submit his own affidavit and

- 33 -
 affidavits of two other witnesses in support of his affidavit
on the date fixed in the notice served upon him.

(c) The parties shall be bound to produce their witnesses for

purpose of their respective cross-examination on the day
fixed by the Court.

(d) A party obtaining the affidavits of the witnesses in support

of his petition/reply would be bound to produce them in the
Court for cross-examination and in case of its failure to do
so their evidence shall be excluded from consideration.

(e) Appeals against the interim orders of the Rent Controller

and resort to Constitutional jurisdiction, against orders at
intermediate stages arising out of the ejectment
proceedings, should be discouraged.

(f) The Court should take serious view of the situation when
witnesses for cross-examination in support of their
affidavits deliberately avoid / evade appearance in Court.

(g) Adjournment of ejectment petition should not be allowed

except under unavoidable circumstances on an
application moved by a party supported by affidavit. In
such cases also adjournment should not be made for a
period exceeding three days. Following the above
procedure in ejectment matters appears to be necessary
to achieve the goal of expeditious disposal of a case within
a period of three months particularly in respect of
residential tenements.

5) Appeals, Writ Petitions and other miscellaneous petitions

pertaining to rent matters should be decided in 60 days.

6) Revision petitions under CPC arising out of interlocutory

orders i.e. interim stay orders, mis-joinder and non-joinder of
necessary parties, appointment of local commissioners and non-
payment of court fee should be decided within 3 months subject to
the maintainability of such petition.

(i) The Presiding Officer of the Court may refer cases for
recording of evidence through Commission subject to the
consent of parties by appointing the Advocate as a
Commission. However, the Commission should only be

- 34 -
 appointed in simple cases i.e. rent, family etc and not in
cases involving delicate question of law.

(i.a) The fee of the Commission shall be fixed with the consent
of parties and their Counsels. The evidence shall be
recorded in the light of Order XXVI of the C.P.C. However,
the period for completion of recording of evidence shall
not be more than one week and the objections if any shall
be decided by recording proper order.

(ii) The Commission shall complete the evidence within week

and submit its report to the Court. It is desirable that the
Commission is appointed out of a panel of advocates
having not less than three years experience and good
record of pleading of cases.

(iii) The appointment of Commission should be streamlined

and in each district a list of lawyers should be maintained
for appointment as a Commission in consultation with the
representatives of Bar and such list of lawyers should be
updated regularly. The Commission should be appointed
out of agreed list/panel in rotation, ensuring that there is
no favoritism/nepotism and no repetition of names as
favour to some.

(iv) The appointment for Commission should be made on

merit by considering the qualification and standing at Bar.

(v) The Commission should be appointed with free consent

of the parties.

(vi) The Commission should record evidence in the court

room in physical presence/control of the judicial official.

(vii) On closure of proceedings, the Presiding Officer should

give a certificate to the effect that the evidence was
recorded by the Commission in his physical presence.

(viii) If the workload is manageable then the recording of

evidence through Commission should be avoided and the
judicial officer should record evidence under his hand.

6-A) In cases where appeals/revisions have been filed against any

order, the trial court should not stop the proceedings unless it is
specifically barred to proceed with the case.
- 35 -
7) Family cases should be decided within 3-6 months.

8) Civil appeals arising out of family cases, custody of minors,

guardianship cases, succession and insolvency cases, if
competent, shall be decided within one to four months and for any
delay, reasons should be furnished to the High Court.

9) Cases related to public revenues should be decided within a

period of six months positively in order to meet the constitutional
requirements.

9-A) Revenue authorities should proceed to recover public

revenues where no stay order is granted by any court or has
expired by efflux of time.

10) Civil Judges should decide review applications within 30

days and the trial of new cases (instituted after 1st January 2009)
should be completed within 6 months.

11) Negotiable Instrument cases which are decided through

summary procedure as provided under Order XXXVII of the Code of
Civil Procedure 1908 should be decided in 90 days.

12) Priority should be given to women and juvenile cases for

quick disposal.

12-A) Cases related to fiscal matters should be taken on fast track

for disposal to meet the Constitutional requirements.

13) The Small Claims and Minor Offences Courts Ordinance 2002
should be applied in earnest. The High Courts should designate civil
judges cum Magistrates to try exclusively cases under said law.
Such judicial officers be imparted training in ADR. For this purpose
a Committee of judges of the High Courts headed by a judge of the
Supreme Court would arrange training in ADR for master trainers
who would later on train the remaining judges in provinces.

The Small Claims and Minor Offences Ordinance Courts 2002 has
been promulgated for providing exclusive forum for facilitating the
resolution of small disputes. This law also provides for ADR
mechanism for facilitating the resolution and settlement of disputes
outside the court system. This could be transformed into an excellent
forum for addressing backlog of cases, therefore, the High Courts
should approach respective provincial governments for establishment
- 36 -
of more such courts to deal with the cases under the provisions of
Small Claims and Minor Offence Courts Ordinance 2002 exclusively.

The NGO’s and professionals having expertise in ADR may be

encouraged to establish ADR Centers at their own in other provinces
on the pattern of ADR, Centre Karachi.
Technical disputes should be arbitrated by at least one expert in the
panel.
Government may establish a Centre for ADR in Islamabad on the
pattern of Karachi Centre for Dispute Resolution in collaboration with
Federal Judicial Academy and other relevant organizations and
experts.

High Courts should organize workshops on ADR in the provincial

capitals wherein the members of the ADR Committee, constituted
under the NJPMC, be invited to impart training to the participants.

13-A) There are enabling provisions in different laws for amicable

settlement of disputes. Therefore, the Presiding Officers should
strive at every material stage of the proceeding to induce in a very
non-intrusive and benign manner to the parties to settle their
dispute through ADR without wasting time and money on protracted
and contested litigation.

(13-B) As a matter of policy, courts should ask the parties to consider

mediation at preliminary stage. Each High Court may setup a committee
to explore administrative changes that can be made in applicable rules to
facilitate or encourage mediation at this stage.

(13-C) The judiciary should actively promote and facilitate the functioning
of quasi-judicial bodies in order to establish well functioning regulatory
institutions.

(13-D) The courts should maintain the data in respect of cases disposed
of through Alternate Dispute Resolution( ADR)
(13-E) Each High Court should frame Rules to make the mediation
compulsory.

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(13-F) A.D.R. should be made a part of legal education and the judges
having national responsibility should be satisfied about the importance of
investment treaty/ arbitration.

14) In the Supreme Court and High Courts, priority should be

given to dispose off old cases, except cases in which special orders
were passed by court for fixation of the cases on specified dates.

15) To clear the backlog under different categories, special

benches should be constituted for each category on the Principal
seat and Branch Registries of the Supreme Court and High Court.
There should be a commitment of judges to decide the old
civil/criminal cases as early as possible.

16) Priority should be given to the disposal of trade, commercial

and investment cases. Such cases should be managed on fast track
through establishment of designated courts and by constituting
special benches by High Courts and Supreme Court.

16-A) In dealing with complex commercial issues the judiciary

should rely on and utilize expert knowledge so that a more informed
verdict may be reached.

17) Late issuance of cause lists by the High Courts creates

problems for lawyer/litigant and parties to appear in court on short
notice, which results in adjournments. Therefore, to provide
reasonable time to the parties to adjust their schedule, the Supreme
Court and High Courts should issue their cause lists one month in
advance.

18) For early disposal of cases, the courts should adopt the
following measures:

(a) To cope with the problem of increasing litigation, it is

necessary that the courts shall carefully scrutinize the
pleadings, record and dismiss/reject false, fictitious and
frivolous cases as provided under Code of Civil Procedure
1908.

(b) The provision of Order 11 of the C.P.C. regarding discovery

and inspection should be applied properly to narrow down the
controversies as well as issues leading to recording of
statement of fewer and relevant witnesses.

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(b-i) To narrow down the controversies in civil cases, the Presiding
Officer should ascertain from each party whether he admits or
denies such allegation of facts as are made in the plaint or in
written statement, if any. The issues be narrowed down to the
essential ones. This practice will help the court to restrict its
proceeding to the actual controversies.

(b.i.a) The Court should use the procedure provided in Order 10 rule
4 CPC more effectively or in meaningful way to shorten the
litigation before framing issues.

(b-ii) Recording of better statement before proceeding with the case

could facilitate the court to have overview of actual
controversies. Therefore, Presiding Officer may ask the
parties to submit better statements.

(b-iii) In suits against the Government, the concerned departments

do not file written statement/reply within the prescribed time
which causes unnecessary delay in initiation of trial.
Therefore, the courts should ensure submission of reply within
the shortest possible time failing which person responsible for
delay must be taken to task.

(c) The parties denying documents that may be proved later

should be burdened with costs incurred for proving that
document as well as incidental costs.

(d) The courts should make use of section 89A C.P.C. to resolve
disputes through Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)
including conciliation, mediation and arbitration or any such
other appropriate mode.

(e) The plaintiff should be obligated to provide the defendant's

mailing address and telephone/ fax number.

(f) The present strength of process serving agencies is

inadequate and should be appropriately increased and
alternate methods of service including courier service be used
as ordinary mode of effecting service.

(g) The courts should take strict action against parties or

witnesses who cause deliberate delay, through imposition of
costs.
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 (h) Execution proceedings should be completed quickly for
satisfying the decree.

(i) The court should discourage frequent interlocutory

applications for concentration on disposal of cases as a whole.

(j) All the oldest and contested cases having intricate questions
of law pending in different Courts in the districts should be
transferred on the roaster of D&SJs for disposal on day to day
basis.

k) While marking cases to different courts, the administrative

judges should consider the experience/ length of service of the
Judge to whom the case is marked and it should be ensured
that the contested cases involving intricate questions of law
should be marked to the experienced Judicial Officers.

l) The Courts should make use of information technology for

fixture/assigning dates of hearing.

m) Each case should be fixed after a reasonable time in rotation.

n) The role of Para Legal Staff/Readers in fixing date of hearings

should be discarded. The Presiding Officer should issue a
“Peishi Parchi”/Adjournment Slip under his signature to
parties/counsels.

o) For fixing a date of hearing/adjournment the nature of case

may be taken into consideration.

19) To check filing of false and frivolous cases the courts should
impose compensatory costs under section 35-A of the C.P.C.
Similarly on the patron of High Court of Sindh, the other High Courts
may also amend the relevant rules for incorporation of a provision
to impose a cost upto rupees one lac for false, frivolous and
vexatious litigation.

19-A) In environmental and Public Interest Litigation cases the

delinquent officers be penalized or burdened with costs in addition
to the main relief. Costs to be partially awarded to the person who
brings the matter to the court on behalf of public. Costs can also be
in the shape of a direction to the delinquents to render community

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services. Frivolous Public Interest Litigation or Personal Interest
Litigation cases be burdened with heavy costs.

19-B) To check filing of revenue cases in fake names, the NADRA

should be taken on board to verify the credentials of parties.

20) Civil and criminal functions of the court should be bifurcated

so that the judicial officers can try criminal and civil cases
exclusively. For fuller comprehension of civil/criminal law and
experience, such judicial officers be rotated annually.

21) The cases should be tried strictly in accordance with the law
/rules by giving sufficient opportunities to the litigant
parties/members of the Bar to plead their cases and justice must not
be sacrificed on technicalities.

22) Judges of district judiciary may fix last Saturday of each

month as a judgment day subject to the condition that no urgent
matter is pending and the workload so permits.

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LONG TERM MEASURES
1) The judges of High Courts should carryout inspections of
prisons periodically for ensuring compliance of Prison Rules and
giving on the spot remedy/relief to the deserving prisoners in
accordance with law.

2) The High Courts should frame an equitable, consistent and

coherent policy for sending the Judges to the permanent and circuit
benches so that every judge gets equal opportunity to serve at the
principal seat and benches. A Judge may not be transferred just for
hearing a particular case and thereafter transferring him to other
station, as this practice is against the principle of independence of
judiciary.

3. Necessary funds be provided by Government for

infrastructure support like construction of courtrooms, amenities
for lawyers/litigants parties. The strength of judicial officers and
administrative staff should be increased to cope with rising trend of
litigation in the country. Adequate staff, library facilities and
accessory equipment like computers should also be made available
to courts.

The Committee recommended the following:

(a) The vacant posts in the subordinate courts should be

immediately filled and funds for creation of new additional
posts of Civil Judges cum Judicial Magistrates may be
acquired from respective governments to allay the concerns
of an ordinary litigant and to meet the challenges of growing
population and economy

(b) Presently, judicial officers are appointed through respective

Provincial Public Service Commissions which takes time.
Keeping in view the emergent need of judges to clear backlog,
the High Courts should consider making appointments on
adhoc basis.

(c) The High Courts should utilize the Provincial Judicial

Development Fund (PJDF) to make available the essential
paraphernalia such as provision of furniture, law books,
typewriters and creating an integrating computer network for
access to information and material and effective
supervision/monitoring of the performance of the subordinate
courts.

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(d) The High Courts shall seek necessary funds from Provincial
Governments for infrastructure support like construction of
courtrooms, amenities for lawyers/litigants parties, residential
accommodation of judicial officers/court staff and for
increasing the strength of judicial officers and administrative
staff to cope with the rising trend of litigation in country.
Adequate staff, library facilities and necessary equipment like
computers should also be made available to the Courts.

(e) Upgrading and activation of judicial academies to arrange pre

and in-service training of the judicial officers and staff.

(e.i) Arrangements should be made for training and capacity-

building of judges, court staff and counsel on issues of
gender bias and judicial empathy through judicial academies
and similar institutions

(e.ii) Periodic refresher courses should also be offered to

enhance the capacity of judges and support staff

(e.iii) Training period should be increased and there should be

national standards for judicial education and judicial
academies;

(e.iv) The Bar Councils and Bar Associations should arrange

refresher courses for the young lawyers and also play their
effective role for improving the quality of legal education.

(f) Seminars and workshop should be organized for judges to

have regular interaction and experience sharing with other
judges at provincial and national level.

(g) For provisions of Air conditions, Generators, UPS and other

necessary equipments to the courts for uninterrupted
functioning, the Chief Justices of the Provincial High Courts
may work out their needs and approach the provincial
governments for necessary funds.

(h) Registrars of High Courts may approach the Provincial

Governments for establishment of forensic laboratory at least
at divisional level.

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4) Scattered courts are also one of the major causes of
nonappearance of lawyers as it takes hours to reach from one court
to another. Therefore, in the cities court complexes should be
constructed to accommodate all courts in one premises. Special
Federal & Provincial Tribunals should also be accommodated in
such judicial complex.

5) Presently, some judges of the High Courts are performing

additional functions like Chairman, Environmental Protection
Tribunals, Labour Appellate Tribunals etc which affects the working
of the High Courts as a whole, therefore, it is decided that the
concerned Government may be asked to appoint suitable persons
against these positions instead of giving additional charge to the
High Court Judges.

5-A) Green Benches / specialised environmental tribunals should be

strengthened and judicial decisions on environmental cases be
made available publically and promptly implemented. Training on
environmental law / procedure be provided to judges and lawyers.
Further more law schools should be encouraged to include
environmental law in their curriculum.

6) The Government of Sindh in exercise of powers conferred

under section 59 of the Prisons Act 1894 has brought an amendment
in the Prisons Rules where-under the condemned prisoners are not
kept in death cells till final decision on their appeals. Keeping in view
the agonies of the condemned prisoners detained in death cells, the
Committee directed that the Provincial Governments of Punjab,
Balochistan and NWFP should consider making similar
arrangements for taking out the condemned prisoners from death
cells and keeping them in barracks with adequate security
arrangements.

7) The Provincial Governments should realize the difficulties of

under resource and over congested jails and establish new jails at
district level or enhance the capacity of existing jails by
constructing new barracks duly equipped with necessary amenities.

8) Non-production of prisoners before the Courts for trial due to

shortage of resources and cramped judicial lockups is a major
cause of delay in quick disposal of cases, therefore, the Provincial
Governments should equip the prison department with necessary
resources and increase the capacity of judicial lockups by
constructing additional rooms with necessary facilities and security

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so that prisoners who are brought from other Districts should be
kept there to face their trial.

(i) The provincial governments should be asked to construct

jails at least at a district level and a sub-jail at tehsil level.

(ii) The Committee further resolved that specious judicial

lockups (Bhakhshi Khanas) with necessary facilities
should be constructed in the Court premises for under trial
prisoners rather than keeping them in prisons van in
scorching temperature. For the time being, in case of non
availability of judicial lockups the under trial prisoners may
be kept in the lockups of police station near the District
Courts for their production during trial.

(iii) The jail authorities may adopt the system of double lock
for the children wards and the keys may be kept with two
jail officials.

9) To address the problem of medical facilities to the inmates of

various jails, the Committee recommended that the Chief Justices
of the High Courts should hold meetings with the Chief Secretaries
and Finance/ Health Secretaries of the provinces to chalk out policy
for providing adequate medical treatment facilities to the ailing
prisoners.

10) The capacity and functioning of process serving agencies be

improved and for this purpose, the provincial governments may be
approached for funds.

The service of summons through Internet, TCS,

Telephones and any other efficient method should be
adopted by substituting the present outdated system of
service through bailiff / Peyada. The Registrars, of the
provincial High Courts with the approval of Chief Justices
may settle subsidize rates with the local courier service.
Such courier agencies should furnish reports to the
concerned Courts regarding timely service of summons
and in case of non service without any cogent reasons the
firm should be held responsible.

11) Computerization and networking should be introduced at all

levels of judicial hierarchy. By introducing specifically designed
software, the effectiveness of computers could be enhanced to
check and monitor the case flow and measuring the qualitative and

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 quantitative output of judicial officers. Therefore, all the computers
of a province should be connected through web based networking
so that data transferring to MIT branch, High Court becomes easy.

12) Installation of Video Conferencing facility between the courts

and jails will also help the courts in early disposal of cases.
Therefore, High Courts should take initiatives for introducing
modern techniques and automation in the courts.

12-A) A modern Witness Protection Program should be

implemented to ensure safety and protection of witnesses,
prosecutors and the presiding officers and such modalities should
be adopted through which a witness can be examined through
video link and in this regard legislation be considered subject to
constitutional provisions.

13) In the province of Punjab, the judicial officers of the

subordinate Judiciary are drawing additional judicial allowances
equal to three times of their salaries, therefore, it is desirable that
the judicial officers of all the provinces be treated alike and disparity
in their salaries and allowances be removed.

14) The salary/allowances of court staff should also be suitably

increased.

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